Where has the Tottenham on Pitch Communication Gone?

Over the last several matches one of the hallmarks of Tottenham Hotspur from early in the season has disappeared, Spurs vocal on field leadership. One of the few positives from the lack of fans at sporting events has been the closeness of the players in terms of hearing the communication on the pitch. At times during the early part of the Tottenham season, you could hear the keepers or Pierre Højbjerg, or others communicate about the pitch. However, over the last few weeks that on-pitch communication has seemingly vanished and it has cost Spurs points in the process.

Importance of On-Field Communication

While the seemingly telepathic connection that Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son sometimes display is incredible, most of the time in sports verbal communication is necessary. Whether it is the passer of the ball telling the recipient to “hold” the ball or that there is a “man on” or to let the player know they have “time” giving a shout along with the pass is a good thing.

Of course this works on both ends of the pitch too. Just as a player can help a recipient know what their options with the ball are, so too can the defense communicate the help their fellow defenders out. For example, you could tell someone scrambling in the box, they have time or that a defender needs to step up, or that there might be a man on, so you need to clear the ball.

Growing up, coaches used to preach the idea that maybe you cannot do everything a superstar can do athletically, but the one thing ANY player can do as well as Pele or Messi or Ronaldo is communicate on the pitch. Over the last several weeks the sounds of that communication for Tottenham have been disappearing and it has been leading to errors that have hurt the team and cost Spurs points.

A little communication can make a world of difference for Tottenham

Take the goals that Liverpool scored against Tottenham for example. On the first goal before the half a little shout from Hugo Lloris could have helped both Serge Aurier and Joe Rodon recover. Likewise, even a simple call of the word “clear” from Lloris would have then helped Eric Dier know he needed to clean up the cross to Firminho.

In this instance Lloris said nothing either time and Spurs got beat, but Hugo was not alone in this kind of error. If you look at Liverpool’s final goal, where Joe Rodon made the ‘mistake’ of settling the ball for Mane, with a little communication from veteran Matt Doherty, Rodon could have done better.

Doherty was out of position on the play coming in behind Mane but what he was in position to see was the ball the man and his teammate. Instead of saying “man on” or “clear” the back said nothing and Rodon was left in no man’s land. Maybe in a couple years time Rodon will be so experienced he does not need any help to know his surroundings but for now even a little contribution from the mouth of his teammates would have helped avoid the mistake he made.

The first goal was still a whole slew of team errors and ultimately that last goal was an individual error by Rodon, however, even a little communication on the pitch could probably have avoided both goals. Moving forward if Spurs want to stop some of the mistakes, it starts with opening their mouths and helping each other out. Even in the world of sports, a little communication can go a long way.