Jose Mourinho believes in a counter-attacking style of football but defending for the sake of it is costing Tottenham Hotspur points in the Premier League.
Lack of Ambition Costing Tottenham Hotspur Points
Jose Mourinho’s Style Over Substance
Mourinho is a winner and there can be no debate over that. Wherever he has managed he has delivered silverware and there is every chance that he will keep up that record with Spurs. They face a semi-final tie at home to Brentford in the Carabao Cup and are in the last 32 of the Europa League as well as starting their FA Cup journey in January 2021. Yet, in the last four Premier League matches, a lack of attacking intent and an insistence on defending has left Spurs fifth and six points adrift of league leaders Liverpool.
So why has there been a sudden dip in form and results for the North London club? A commitment to defending at all costs has been a major factor.
Ten Points Dropped in Four Matches
Against Crystal Palace, Spurs had 14 shots on target and were denied three points by an in-form goalkeeper in Vicente Guaita who produced a string of fine saves. Spurs were also their own worst enemies by allowing Palace to have the ball for long periods and attack the back line. When Palace equalised it was hardly a surprise and two points were squandered.
Next up was Liverpool in a mouth-watering top of the table clash at Anfield. Tottenham had chances to win this game, most notably through Steven Bergwijn who struck the post and Harry Kane who inexplicably managed to miss a header from six yards. If those chances had become goals then maybe analysing Spurs’ defensive style would be less necessary. However, they had eight shots to the hosts’ 17 and over the 90 minutes had just 24.2% of the possession. At the start of the second half with the game at 1-1, Spurs were attacking but after those missed chances went back into their shells and allowed Liverpool to attack at will and snatch a late, late winner. Mourinho stressed that the better team lost yet Tottenham again brought pressure onto themselves and three points were gone.
Leicester City Inflicted More Pain as Spurs Lacked Ambition
Leicester City at home was not going to be an easy game but from the first whistle, every Tottenham player was content to sit in their own half and allow Leicester to attack. When playing against the likes of Youri Tielemans, James Maddison and Jamie Vardy it was a tactic that looked negative and so it proved to be as Brendan Rodgers’ men eased to a 2-0 victory. Playing on the counter is all well and good but if you lose the ball, pass poorly and miss Kane and Son Heung-min out of the play altogether, you are not going to win many games.
When the counter-attacking has worked for Spurs in games such as the 2-0 win over North London rivals Arsenal it has been due to good control of the ball when in possession and fast attacks. That has started to drift out of Spurs’ game and they are starting to look unimaginative and stale.
Wolves Make Jose Mourinho and Spurs Pay for Negative Approach
Tottenham got off to a flying start at Molineux with a goal through Tanguy Ndombele in just the second minute of the game. This was an opportunity to kick on and really kill off their opponents but what ensued was the opposite as Tottenham sat deep and defended their lead for 84 minutes until the dominance in play that they allowed their opponents finally told and Pedro Neto put the home side level.
Shortly afterwards Wolves could have taken all three points but squandered a glorious chance. Tottenham then pressed for the final minutes of the game but had shown little ambition after going ahead. This was another two points thrown away due to a defensive approach and made it ten points from a possible 12 dropped by Spurs.
The Art of Defending
Strong defending is not a bad thing. Great teams have solid back lines and the fact that Spurs have shown they can successfully defend for large parts of matches is not to be just overlooked. Defending is an art in football and it has served Mourinho well but the last four games have seen Spurs defending for the sake of defending and it is costing them points as the results clearly show.
Tottenham Not Playing to Their Strengths
Kane and Son started the season in fine form that had Spurs sitting at the top of the table but recently both players have only had glimmers of success as they have been by-passed by long balls and the team focusing on allowing opponents to have the ball has meant they have had little to feed off. Bergwijn is strong and pacy, Lucas Moura is energetic, yet they are all playing as defenders for the majority of games.
There is a lack of invention in the midfield and the most creative player in Dele Alli has been brutally frozen out by the manager with public dressing downs and a lack of playing time. Tottenham have hit a crossroads.
Lack of Ambition Will Continue Costing Tottenham Hotspur Points
In the second half against Southampton back in September, Spurs were clinical, fast and expansive as they beat the Saints 5-2. They blew Manchester United away 6-1 at Old Trafford in October and then drew 3-3 with a last ten-minute capitulation against West Ham United. It was that result that saw Mourinho tighten the defence and understandably so but it is now at the expense of the attacking football seen earlier in the season. Wins at home over Manchester City and the aforementioned game against Arsenal showed how counter-attacking football can work when applied well.
What it does not mean is that you should play one style every single week and that is what is happening at Tottenham. A strategy that you would expect to be a Plan B is now a Plan A, and no Plan B seems to exist. Mourinho has a raft of attacking talent at his disposal and all of a sudden it seems that they are just not being utilised.
Tottenham have a chance to end their 12-year wait for silverware this season but if they continue playing the same way week in week out they are going to end up being disappointed because they are not offering any attacking threat to their opponents and ultimately this style of football only looks like costing Tottenham Hotspur points.
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