Three ways Nuno’s Tottenham Hotspur is different from Mourinho’s Spurs
By Aaron Coe
Spurs players seem to know the plan
Although we have not seen the free-flowing attack that was featured in the pre-season, it has not been from a lack of cohesion among the players. One of the major complaints of the time under Mourinho was the lack of identifiable patterns of play.
This season, even in this small sample size, you can see clear patterns of play, which are leading to the progression of football.
Partially down to the better positioning, the players seem to have a better sense of where each other are going to be on the pitch and what they are going to do with the ball. There are clear passing moves occurring, which include players running off the ball.
Outside of the long balls from Harry Kane last season, much of the third man running off the ball – which was a hallmark of the team’s success under Mauricio Pochettino – was gone. This season under Santo, we are again seeing that movement from the players to create space for themselves and for each other.
Given the team does not have that one maestro, like a Christian Eriksen or Kevin De Bruyne, pulling the strings, the movement and understanding with each other will have to overcome that lack of a singular playmaker.
The idea of multiple people making runs and plays for the team is actually possible thanks to the third big change this season.