Tottenham concluded their transfer window by signing Federico Fazio from Sevilla and selling club captain Michael Dawson to Hull. Fazio has similar strengths to Dawson; his aerial ability is superb and he can also read the game well. Fazio isn’t the fastest, but nor was Dawson; their defensive awareness of the game made up for the lack of pace. These two transfers were an almost perfectly like-for-like swap. However, Fazio is a younger, more technically gifted upgrade.
The defence hasn’t proven itself worthy of top praise over the first three league matches. Defensive errors were made in all three matches, especially the Liverpool match. Against a side of top quality, there are no room for errors. The first goal conceded against Liverpool was almost a team effort from Tottenham. Jan Vertonghen didn’t close down Daniel Sturridge fast enough, and subsequently Etienne Capoue did not track the run of Jordan Henderson tightly enough. All it took for them to score was a ball across the face of the goal which evaded two defenders chasing the same ball, and fell at the feet of an unmarked Raheem Sterling who could tap it home. Tottenham cannot afford to have a defence which commits so many defensive errors. Hopefully Fazio can provide some extra quality in defence to prevent similar mistakes happening again.
Will Fazio alone transform the defence into a brick wall? Unlikely. To make the defence stronger, the players must become a cohesive unit. Pochettino hasn’t had a full pre-season to completely sort out who plays where, so he can only experiment until he finds a best fit. However, the more changes made in a defence creates confusion. Once Pochettino has found his desired defence, the players will be able to gel. The more games the same defence gets under its belt, the better it will perform. Fazio may be a key part of the defence though. His ability to read a game will allow him to take a role in organising other defenders. This will strengthen the defence even further and will provide a solid basis for the whole team to do well. If the strikers know that the defence will hold, it will allow them to play with less pressure. Moreover, it allows the midfield to become an offensive outfit in which to push the team further up the pitch.
Tottenham could do with a figure like Ledley King on the pitch, and if Fazio were to be half the player King was Spurs would have a much better defence indeed. King could inspire whoever was in the defence alongside him to play well. Now, Fazio is yet to play a game for Tottenham, so it is impossible to judge the effect he will have on the defence. However, his quality was proven at his old club, so why can’t he bring it to the Premier League? Ask the same question to Roberto Soldado. Just because he was good enough for Valencia, doesn’t mean he would be able to adapt and be the same player for Spurs.
If Pochettino can sort out the defensive strategy, then it could be the difference between beating top sides. The attacking talent is all there for the eye to see, but the defence seems to let itself down. After a dismal last season of failing to win a single game against a top four side, it’s time for improvement. So many of the goals conceded against these clubs came from very poor errors. These errors are ones that can be sorted out, with hard work and practice on the training ground.
There is no reason why the defence can’t improve itself. If and when it does, it could be a big change to the club.
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