Spurs Dilemma – A Team & Coach Lacking Identity

Perhaps it is too soon to call it a crisis. However what is for sure is that Spurs are not achieving to the standards expected of them this season. Last weekends defeat was demoralising and embarrassing for the club, their players and their coach. Serious questions must be asked however of their coach. What is the philosophy and identity of the team? This article will assess what and who is to blame for the issues at Spurs this season.

It all went wrong for Villas-Boas last weekend. A 6-0 drubbing raises concerns from many areas and perhaps it was a performance or more importantly a result which may make the young coach reassess what he is doing with his team this season. Yet has this been coming for the Portguese and his new look Spurs side?

There have been signs since the start of the season that the team was not ‘clicking’ yet 1-0 results helped sideline those fears, putting them down to mere ;growing pains'. Two penalties and a last minute winner turned drab 0-0’s into 9 points,  something which could be commended as ‘champions performance’. Yet this was not the case, the side looked lost of ideas.Conceding just two goals in the first six games looked very impressive. Yet was it about being a great defensive side?

It was inevitable that a side would expose their flaws and it would be West Ham who would take advantage as they ran out 3-0 winners. The Arsenal game highlighted concerns of the defence too. It was Man City however who really exposed the weakness of the side. It was tragic. 

The side were most vulnerable in transition. Spurs were simply overran and exposed when losing possession and could not track and deal with the speed of City’s players. Perhaps the money from Gareth Bale could have been spent on a great central defender, or a left back who could then allow their best defender in Vertonghen to play centrally. That apparently was not deemed important. 

Apparently Spurs needed more steel in midfield, creative midfielders and a classic centre forward. Lamela was seen as the luxury option, the one who could possibly replace what Bale offered. However none of these additions have made an impact. Spurs have gone backwards from last season, yet perhaps the truth is that Bale was ‘band-aid’ which was keeping these flaws away. The problem in Bale’s absence is that Spurs style of play in possession is one-dimensional and flawed. The problem is Villas-Boas’ philosophy of football.

A naive and delusional coach

When Villas-Boas arrived at Chelsea he spoke about his admiration and adulation of Guardiola and Barcelona’s style of football. Would we see Chelsea play the tiki-taka brand of football? Well, no. They played a high line, they aimed to keep possession, yet they did not play well, or fluid or importantly succeed under his philosophy. 

Was it the players who could not adapt? Or was it their coach whose ideologies were not suited to his squad and which would ultimately be flawed. He paid for it with his job and many thought we had seen the end of him in England. Yet Spurs could not resist bringing him to take the club further, what they got was a position lower and Europa League football. He had succeeded for Porto with the riches of talent of Falcao, Hulk and Moutinho. Perhaps this had been something of an illusion of his talents?

Let me explain what I believe Villas-Boas problem is. City highlighted it just like Di Matteo did when he took over at Chelsea. In obsessing about Barcelona and the importance of possession, Spurs have become merely a side who care more about retaining possession than actually creating chances at goal. Like the naïve coach that he is he believes that having 60% possession somehow means success. 

Now the stats these past several years have shown that 60% possession in a game is more favourable to a win. However possession stats have been taken too far, for some coaches possession has become an end in itself and this is what Chelsea and now Spurs are guilty of. 

It is the naïve mentality of a coach who watches Barcelona in 2011 and believes that their success came from keeping the ball. In fact their success came from a complete understanding of their role both in and out of possession. Their movement was at times genius, as to their ability to penetrate sides with intricate passing. They sought to dominate games and play high in the opposition half. 

And what was important? On losing possession they had to press and seek to deny the opposition creating an attack. It was their pressing which made them so successful. Villas-Boas somehow has neglected or ignored the importance of defending and pressing. His one defensive tactic appears to be keeping possession. Yet City exposed this so easily and were so ruthless against them on the counter. Questions and concerns must be raised to what Villas-Boas is doing at Spurs.

Where is the evidence of patterns of movement and an understanding of what they are doing when they enter the final third. It genuinely appears completely random and after working with the majority of the squad for almost 18 months and the new arrivals for three-four you would think there would be evidence of some sort of style and ‘identity’. The fact there clearly isn’t really does point to a worry with what the players work on in training. 

Based on what the games are showing it appears that the side simply do nothing but possession drills. Players like Holtby and Lamela indicate a first thought approach of passing backwards, the midfield play sideways and there is little penetration or movement behind the lone forward. It is predictable, pointless football. The sign of a naïve coach.

Compare this to City this season and what Pellegrini has asked of his players. It is a style which excites and importantly produces chances and goals. The annihilation of United and Spurs indicated that City’s approach is about attacking, possession is not of concern. Pellegrini evidently has informed his players to create and play forward when possible. The loss of possession, turnover of play is not a concern. Therefore we have seen many goals and domination of sides this season. Like Klopp and Simeone it is not a crime to lose the ball when trying to create chances, what they seek is to keep playing attacking forward football. 

This blog actually believes that a counter attack style produces more chances and goals and against sides who believe in keeping the ball they are more prone to be exposed in transition (as most forget to press quick on losing possession). 

The drawback to this approach is that sides are given much of the ball and City have been exposed, especially in transition from sides who at home play with more belief. Yet they have proven that possession is not a necessity for success, what is important is to create chances and take them. City’s approach is more suited and beneficial to success, whereas Spurs approach is flawed.

High expectations, high disappointment

With the players bought this past summer the expectations and hopes of this new group were high, this blog believed they could challenge the title. Yet I made the fatal error of believing that Villas-Boas had changed since his time at Chelsea. He is evidently just as naïve and stubborn as he was then, lacking a true understanding of the game and what it needs. Yes keeping possession is important, yet there must be a reason for it. 

Spurs are keeping the ball without a seeming regard to do anything else, this is a worrying concern. This style of play allows sides to set up in their defensive block and has resorted to many long hopeful shots. Spurs have a coach who lack a deep understanding of the game and who appears merely to have fallen in love with Barcelona yet in a shallow sense neglected what made them so successful.

Perhaps he will prove this blog and others wrong, yet there were concerns over him when he arrived at White Hart Lane and in Bale’s absence have been exposed tragically. Personally I believe Spurs have a better squad than teams like Arsenal and Liverpool yet they have a man in charge of them who is not getting the most from this group. Early days is an excuse he can use, yet watching these players play shows that they are the product of their coach. This will not get Champions League football, yet alone a title challenge. 

The Whitehouse Address @The_W_Address