Final Thoughts on Tottenham Hotspur Draw at Wolves

Tottenham Hotspur continue to be going through a bumpy patch in the season after a fourth straight game without a win, so what can we take away from Wolves.

After a fourth straight match without a win, actions speak louder than words for Tottenham Hotspur, as the team looks to come to grips with a rough part of the season. With just 2 points from the last 12, Tottenham need to get right, so what can we take away from the draw at the Molineux?

Formation Trumps Talk

In case anyone was wondering, while not an apologist, I really believe José Mourinho can lead Tottenham to silverware. That said, José can talk about what he asked the players to do and ask the media to ask the players, though they never will. However, when you line-up what is essentially a five-man defensive formation, the tactics are kind of set.

As a team already struggling in the midfield, to add more defenders to the pitch against a Wolves team that was not exactly playing great was quite disappointing. In some respects, one can understand Mourinho trying to match-up with the Wolves preferred formation, however, that should not mean going full defense. Mourinho cannot expect his players to show ambition if he does not.

Had the two outside midfielders been actual midfielders or even wingers, then one might have really seen this as a potential boon as you get one more person forward. Instead, it became one more person back in a team that already have two holding midfielders playing auxiliary back positions. If José wants Spurs to be positive, then he must set up the team in a positive formation, a back three/five is not it.

To better help the clear disconnect in link-up play there actually need to be players playing in the midfield with the job of linking up. Having three rotating attackers in front of eight defenders will not cut it against anyone. This lack of any link-up play leads to the second issue evident versus Wolves, Tottenham are not good at passing.

Spurs Passing Problem

Tottenham Hotspur continue to struggle with the most fundamental basics of football, passing and holding the ball. During the Wolves match there were numerous times where the passes were just short of comical as players were struggling to maintain control and would have to lunge to send bad passes to teammates. While Wolves are a high-pressure team, better passing can help relieve that pressure.

Tottenham have players that dwell too long on the ball or move it so quickly, they never really have any control. Spurs did well early in the season to try and control tempo of matches with passing, this has not been the case since Burnley back in October when Spurs completed 84% of their passes in the 0-1 road win. Now we are seeing a lot of hospital balls that will never get to the man or passes hit with such pace only a baseball catcher could hold them. Each poor pass leads to the next and the idea of possession soon becomes laughable.

While this team should never be mistaken for Pep Guardiola’s tiki-taka Barcelona, the ability to make simple, accurate passes on a consistent basis is kind of fundamental for a football team. On the season Spurs only complete 78% of their passes while the opposition has completed 81%. Against Wolves, Spurs completed just above their average at 79%, however the Wanders completed an excellent 86% of their passes against Spurs, which helped contribute to the 22 to 6 shot discrepancy.

Not by coincidence the two games where Tottenham took the most shots this season against Newcastle, 23 shots, and Manchester United 22 shots, Spurs had 88% and 90% passing on the day. Tottenham also only gave up 11 shots combined in those two matches, half what they conceded in one game against Wolverhampton. If Spurs continue to lose both the possession battle and the passing game as they did against Wolves, the dropped points are going to continue to come.

Matt Doherty is Not Kyle Walker

As José Mourinho continues to tinker with his situation at right back, whether playing on the wing, the midfield, or as an actual fullback, the weaknesses in Matt Doherty grow clearer with each outing. Doherty plays a lot like Kyle Walker where he is pinned to the touchline but often out of position defensively.

This works for Kyle Walker as he something Doherty never will, world class speed. Walker makes up for a lot of ills in the Manchester City defense, as he used to do for Tottenham, and Spurs are still not recovered. Doherty is not aware enough off the ball nor athletic enough to be played out of position.

Add in that Doherty is simply not good enough on the ball. One thing, besides the speed, which sets Kyle Walker apart from other backs is his immaculate touch. The man could catch a punt with his foot from a mile away. Matt Doherty on the other hand does not have a similar touch and is one of the reasons Spurs are struggling with the passing. Doherty finds the ball a ton, but then does nothing productive with it, which ultimately puts the next man under more pressure.

While Sergio Reguilón played 30 less minutes he had 21 less passing attempts and 29 less touches. This is because Tottenham consistently keep pushing up the right flank, despite the fact they are not really getting much productivity from it. Instead of sitting back against Adama Traore, why not make him defend as Reguilón was one of the better attackers on the day.

We are not against Matt Doherty here and in fact thought he was excellent at times earlier in the season; however, he can only do what he can do and right now he is being asked to do too much. Part of getting the most out of the team is using players in the best way and right now, that is not putting Doherty at outside midfield to give away possession.