Five Reasons Why Tottenham Hotspur Should Change to a 4-3-3

Reason 4: Balance the Midfield Depth

Given the need for two remarkable athletes and players at the base of the Tottenham midfield, depth there is limited. In a three-man midfield, instead of running Højbjerg and Sissoko into the ground, they could be in a rotation for each other. With two strong passing midfielders on either side of Sissoko, his limitations on the ball could be hidden. Again, see Jordan Henderson.

Alternatively, Harry Winks, who is currently struggling for a position in the team would work very well in a three-man midfield having a few less responsibilities in terms of field to cover. If you want a strong passing team against a weaker side, letting Højbjerg rest and letting Winks boss the midfield with the coverage around him would likely work. And of course, you would still have Sissoko to substitute.

Likewise, Erik Lamela or Dele Alli could play in either of those outside positions in the midfield, as could more traditional central midfielders Moussa Sissoko and Harry Winks. Suddenly, where the team was imbalanced with way too many attacking midfielders and not enough defensive midfielders the club would have plenty of both across all three positions on the pitch. Imbalance would suddenly be balance, flexibility, and numbers.

Reason 5: Three True Attackers

Maybe the best part of the move to the 4-3-3 would mean Tottenham would have three players fully committed to playing attacking, offensive football. While the theory in the 4-2-3-1 is that four players are getting into the attack, the reality is only Kane and Son are really committed to the attack.

Since Højbjerg and Sissoko must cover so much ground horizontally and Ndombele does vertically, the second winger is often used as an auxiliary defender/midfielder already. What this does is means instead of having someone like Steven Bergwijn or Gareth Bale up the pitch running off Harry Kane, they are back helping on defense.

If Tottenham have three midfielders with one already behind each of the wings providing support both forward and backwards, the need for Bergwijn or even Son to drop into defense in open play would be reduced. If they are dropping back to defend less, they are more available to make runs, which would be more possible, as a switch to a 4-3-3 would give more room for Harry Kane to operate.

Reason 5A: More Room for Kane to Operate

Harry Kane is good at dropping deep and sitting in the number 10 hole for Tottenham and Spurs have had some great success with that this season. There is only one real problem with that, in a 4-2-3-1 set-up, there is already a player sitting in the number 10 position, the center attacking midfield.

By taking that position and moving it to the side, you open more of the middle of the pitch for Harry Kane to drop in and pick up the ball. Instead of a midfielder covering Spurs CAM and the defender covering Kane in the space, you just have Kane and the defender. This means more space for Spurs talisman to operate.

Additionally, Harry would now have three choices in the midfield to play the ball back too and two making runs ahead. So, we still have Kane getting the ball in the middle of the pitch, just with more space and more options. It sounds like Spurs would be back in business. Think Jurgen Klopp would rather have Firmino or Kane leading his line?

The bottom line is Tottenham will not make the end of the season in a 4-2-3-1 line-up without more players who can fill those critical deep lying positions and without moving out players who do not fit the system. Instead of a midseason team overhaul when the club is in a tough financial situation, the more sensible and frankly better footballing decision would be to make some changes to the system.

If Tottenham want to win this year, they must get the most out of what they have. What Spurs have now are at least five good reasons to switch to a 4-3-3.