Five Star Spurs

Nothing is easier to write than a piece on how well your team played. This is no different. We were pretty good from the first whistle to the last. Five goals with no reply, 2 cracking goals from our Captain, a world class goal from Son and some actual fast flowing football pre halftime. It was “only” Burnley at home and I remember being this enthused after spanking Palace 4-0 earlier in the season. This somehow feels a little different.

The Palace game was some respite and maybe a win we needed to get things back on track. However, this feels like it’s a continuation of some of the ideas and football we have started to play in Mourinho’s new Lilywhite era. As mentioned before, when he was first announced I was very sceptical. Partly due to rawness of Poch just being sacked and me perceiving them to be poles apart in management styles. Also due to Mourinho’s last foray into management, it was all roses to begin with then it fizzled out. I hope to be proven wrong on my initial thoughts come May.

Tactics

Out of possession 4-2-3-1

Again, it seems this is our go-to formation when we do not have the ball. This allows us to press and get the ball back with this solid shape and then as we did on Saturday, try and maximise the attacking opportunities when we are in possession.

We set up with the same back four as against Manchester Utd. Then we had a little more stable duo of Dier and Sissoko. At least with these two Dier would provide more defensive cover as Sissoko went to cover Aurier when we had the ball. Three of the front four picks itself at the minute with just the right attacking position up for grabs. I suspect there is more rotation here than in the other slots. We have Eriksen who has played really well here before, Lo Celso could also play this role as could Sissoko as seen vs Bournemouth. Lucas was given the nod on Saturday.

In Possession 3-3-4

In possession the shape looked a little like this, due to our dominant position so early on it shifted quite a bit as we were not as rigid. The back 4 turned into the 3, with Vertonghen playing much better than vs Utd. Aurier continued his right-wing position with Sissoko dropping in to cover as and when the Ivory Coast international get forward. We did see Jan drop into defensive midfield as well sometimes as Dier also pushed higher up. Given that most of the their threat being down our right he felt he could move into this position to help the shape of the team.

Hoof it?

Interestingly, was our use of the ball when our centre back had it. We seemed to be trying to bypass the lack of creativity in central midfield but getting both Toby and Davison to seek out players with long balls. Obviously, this worked well from Toby vs Bournemouth, as he had a hand in two goals. You could see this happen during Saturday’s game. If it was not us breaking from winning the ball back it was the use of those balls out for the back. Quite like Mou’s time at Utd, he used these to get Martial and Rashford in behind. You can see things beginning to click with the instructions and with Lucas/Aurier and Son on the wings it could be a useful out ball. A) to bypass any pressing and B) to negate the lack of creativity when Dier and Sissoko play in midfield.

Lucas, again came inside to play the role of an inside forward. Dele played close to Kane again and had a hand in a few of the goals. He was a nuisance in that pocket of space and often filled in for Son as he drifted more into the centre. Son had the left attacking position and came inside to a centre forwards position time and time again. Kane, probably due to our early lead and overall play dropped deep to start moves off and interchanged with Dele and Son on that left side.

Son-Sational

Simply devastating. A world class performance (albeit vs Burnley) I talk about his goal in King or Kaboul this week, but it was absolutely phenomenal. As well as that he kept attacking and attacking, they could not deal with his pace and direct running. He set up Sissoko who hit the post, his cross eventually led to Lucas’ goal and he laid the ball off for Kane’s opener. He is on a real run of scintillating form, with only the Utd game where he was under par, as were most of the team in reality.

Stats

Metric Tottenham

Burnley

Possession 56% 44% Passes 231 170 Accurate Passes

178 (77%)

115 (68%)

Shots (On target) 8 (4) 5 (1) Tackles 8

8

Clearances

13

7



First Half Stats

Looking at the stats, we just shaded possession but had the upper hand on the passing side of things. With 3 of our 4 shots on target going in it was a pretty clinical first half, in which we could have had more. But we could have conceded just as easily. Down our right side they kept getting in behind Aurier and Sissoko. McNeil in particular had an impressive game with his dangerous crossing. With a bit more composure and luck Burnley could have had a few goals to go with their attacking play.

Metric Tottenham

Burnley

Possession 43% 57% Passes 245 309 Accurate Passes

190 (78%)

251 (81%)

Shots (On target) 5 (3) 2 (0) Tackles 11 7

Clearances

10

3



Second Half Stats

As you can see Burnley tried their best to get back into it. Having more possession and more accurate passes over the 45 minutes but they could not make them count. We just kept moving forward and taking our chances when they were presented to us. This is reflected in the Shots row. For all Burnley’s possession and passes they had zero shots on target in the second half. Our defenders had to still be alert to their attacks and again made more clearances than the opposition.

Conclusions

A nice home win by a large margin will always be good, but the attacking displays we have put on under Mourinho are more than encouraging. We have scored 16 goals so far during his time at the club and scored in each of the games. So much for the boring football, I am aware he started like this at Utd and then changed to 8 at the back. But hopefully he has learnt from his previous positions and during his time away from football. As the league leaders and second place are showing, attacking is the way to go.

The match on Wednesday we have a dead rubber (on paper) match vs Bayern Munich. We could approach this a few ways, we could play a mix and match team and blood Sessengnon and Lo Celso and see what they can do against elite opposition. Or we may see a full-strength team side as Mourinho puts his stamp on the competition. We all know he likes to test himself against the best. Also, what better way to endear himself even more to the Spurs fans then avenge the heavy Pochettino tinged defeat suffered earlier in the season.

Wolves Waiting to Pounce

On Sunday we have a tricky away fixture at Wolves, who started pretty slowly in the league. They are now above us in the table by just 1 point. They have had a current league high over 9 draws so far. Bt they seem to be clicking into gear at the minute with Jiminez looking as good as he did last season. Jota scored twice in the draw against Brighton on Sunday and they will be looking to test our defence. I am not looking forward to Jota and Jonny potentially getting in behind our make-shift right flank.

It will be interesting to see what kind of line-up and formation Mou approaches this game with. Could we see a more defensive back four, with Foyth in place of Aurier? And use the long ball system as mentioned above to get past the press and get the ball to our danger men. Do we go with a 4-3-3, Alli in place of Lucas and a 3 of Dier, Winks and Ndombele (fitness providing). They could hopefully match up with the dreamy Portuguese duo of Wolves. Stopping them getting on the ball will be key to stopping them play.

They will double up on the flanks with the fore mentioned Jota/Jonny and then Doherty/Traore on their right flank. All this and then we have not even spoken about Jiminez! Could we see the first 5-3-2 formation under Mou? With a back 5 of Rose, Jan, Sanchez, Toby and Aurier. Midfield 3 of Dier Ndombele and Dele with Son and Kane occupying their 3 defenders. Who knows, it will be interesting no matter what line up is chosen. All that matters is a win in reality.

Next Kane or the next Slabber?

A nice touch after the game with Mou taking the match ball over to Troy Parrott and handing it to him after coming on in the 85th minute for his debut in front of the home supporters. I am very excited to see what Parrott becomes in our shirt. As I did with Kane, hoping that after his loan spells he would come back and turn into the forward we wanted him to be. Nothing better than a player coming through the ranks and becoming a first team member.

COYS

Thanks for reading my Match Review on my new site. All feedback welcome as well as support. Means a lot that people still want to read my views. Please get in touch if you have any questions regarding Spurs, my aim to be THE Spurs source on twitter continues.

There will be a more in depth King or Kaboul European edition on Thursday with the takes from the game as well as a look at the tactics, moments and players who hit the headlines.

Further to this I will be posting about the FPL prospects of some Spurs players each week instead of looking at them in detail in this weekly article. So, keep a look out for that near the end of the week.

Mr WP

@Writehartlane