What a wacky season this is shaping up to be for Tottenham Hotspur. If any team were to win the Champions League and get relegated from their domestic league in the same season, it would be really funny. Spurs now have a chance at it, which won’t surprise some of you. Between their loss to Crystal Palace and both Nottingham Forest and West Ham picking up points this past week, going down looks like a real possibility.
After only two games in charge, new coach Igor Tudor was already playing the “this task is hopeless” card. He may be right about that, but the Croatian who fought off relegation with Udinese and Hellas Verona hasn’t helped his own cause. The loss to Fulham was distinguished by him starting both Xavi Simons and Conor Gallagher as wingers when his bench was stacked with attackers better used to playing on the wing.
It’s enough to make you wonder what he will do when Spurs take on Atlético in the Champions League next week. We know what the Spanish club will do — los rojiblancos have played the same way for the last 15 years under Diego Simeone. It’s anybody’s guess how Tudor will respond. Maybe he will line up all his players on the left side. At any rate, we’re going to take a stab at it.
What Igor Tudor might do
Since Atlético prefer to pack the center of the pitch with a high defensive line, the craziest thing to do would be the exact same thing. Instead of attacking down the wings the way Atlético invite opponents to do, play no wingers or fullbacks and have all 20 outfield players crowded into the middle third of the pitch. With so many players stepping on each other’s feet, maybe a ball will pop loose for some Spurs attacker to run onto.
If that “maybe” doesn’t sound encouraging, Atlético’s whole mindset is to make it really difficult for opposing teams to play through the middle. It’s quite remarkable how that system has held up over such a long time, and with so many different players cycling through it. Unorthodox tactics might just be the way to beat them.
What Tudor should do
Since Atlético put no pressure on opposing defenders when those defenders have the ball close to their own goal, I’m amazed that opposing teams don’t just have their defenders hit the ball long over the top and try to have a speedy attacker try to beat Atleti’s high defensive line. Or, if opponents don’t have defenders who can hoof the ball accurately like that, midfielders could drop back near their own goal and do it.
Spurs do have speed guys up top like Matthys Tel, Mohammed Kudus, and Randal Kolo Muani, who could run onto long balls from the back. A simple tactic like this would be easy for a new coach to install on short notice, and stationing the defenders near their own goal would be a way for Spurs to keep things tight against a dangerous Atlético offense and perhaps keep their dream of an unlikely European Cup alive.