Tottenham out-Burnley Clarets with Mourinho’s Pragmatic Approach

Tottenham Take the Points

Ultimately, the defense did enough to keep Burnley at bay. Whether it was Hugo Lloris coming out to collect the ball or Moussa Sissoko running back sliding in to cover, Spurs did their job. As Mourinho noted, it was “not the football you want to play” rather it was “the football that Burnley push you to play” and if “you don’t cope with it you are in trouble”.

Spurs found a way to cope with that pressure and went to more of an intricate passing game on the night versus the longer balls trying to get over the defense. While Spurs did play 61 long balls on the evening, that was only about 10% of their 595 passes. In other words, a different approach was needed.

I would not call Tottenham’s passing game tiki taka, as it was far from that, but there were clear efforts to work the ball with shorter passes moving mostly through Tanguy Ndombele in the middle of the pitch. Those shorter, quick passes worked through the Burnley defense. The longer passes simply just did not work, and the through balls that have paid dividends all season were not there.

Maintaining possession and continuing to push eventually led to more opportunities and finally, Spurs hit the target with the well worked corner kick scored by Son Heung-Min off another Harry Kane assist. Mourinho commented how following the goal the team “felt calm” and in command, knowing they were going to leave with the three points, as opposed to the draw, which Mourinho called a “loss” to West Ham.

To person who made up the “you cannot win them all” saying, maybe Tottenham and Spurs fans should adopt the “you cannot win them all pretty” mantra and simply enjoy the ride. The ultimate glory is not found in one match, but rather in the prize found at the end of the long climb to the top, a climb Mourinho has made before and we need to just follow.