Letâs talk tactics. Just a short article I suppose. This season we we fairly predictable with our tactics/starting line up. We used a 4-4-1-1 in most games, and 4-2-3-1 in the tougher away games, and also if the personnel available leant itself to the 4-2-3-1 formation. With our strongest eleven all fit and available, this 4-4-1-1 works very well. Solid back 4, Modric & Parker work perfectly in the middle, two out and out wide men, then Rafa in behind a striker capable of leading the line of his own. But the problems really arose when either Bale, or particularly Lennon became unavailable. Redknapp seemed unwilling, or just incapable of changing his approach, and would simply straight swap in Rafa to RM and put Defoe up top in a 4-4-2. Or Modric would play the wider role in a 4-2-3-1 to cover Lennonâs absence. This is when we started showing cracks. Modric is our best player. Heâs our best passer, and our most creative player. He needs to be in the middle pulling the strings. Playing him out wide is the same issue as playing Bale in the middle â it just doesnât suit their strengths. I think Redknapp needs to be more willing to be flexible with his tactics, and hereâs a few things I would like to see next season: If Lennon out: This season we would just shift Rafa out wide and out of position and give Defoe a game. Itâs too simple, too predictable, and means we have no real RM who will track back and cover Walker. With someone like Corluka at RB who does very little attacking this could be OK, but with the attacking Walker, we need someone at RM who will happily fill in when necessary, like Lennon does. This is what I would go for: Friedel Walker Kaboul Vertonghen(?) Bale Parker Modric Sandro VDV TWO STRIKERS This team does mean that Lennon being out means Benny loses his place, which seems a bit harsh, but hear me out. The reason this formation would work relies heavily on the fact that both Kaboul and Vertonghen are flexible and can play LB/RB as well as centre back. Parker and Sandro would sit deeper than Modric. When Bale bombs forward as he inevitably will, and would have full license to do so, Vertonghen would simply shift left to cover the LB area, and Sandro (the left side CDM) would drop deep and slot into LCB. On the other side, when Walker bombs forward, Kaboul shifts over to RB (where he is very capable of playing) and Parker goes back into the RCB position to cover until Walker gets back. Ultimately then, this formation would end up looking a bit like this when we are going forward: Friedel Kaboul Parker Sandro Vertonghen Walker-----Modric-----Bale VDV TWO STRIKERS I just think that would suit the strengths of all of our players. You have Walker and Bale bombing forward with reduced defensive duties compared to a standard LB/RB pair. We keep Modric and VDV in their best positions, and providing we sign 2 strikers good enough to start, I think this could work. Play Bale LB and Assou-Ekotto LM â Again, sounds crazy, hear me out. Every time I think about this, it just seems more and more sensible. Benny loves to beat a man. When I actually think about him, he is probably the player in our team most capable of beating a man one on one. He does it when heâs last man and still very, very rarely loses the ball. Heâs got a fantastic eye for a pass - second only to Modric in our team in my opinion. Only Ashley Williams completed more passes last season out of every single defender. Get him in a wide position one on one with an opposition right back and he will almost always beat that man and find a pass. Secondly, the most important run for a wing-back to make is the overlap. Who better to overlap than Bale? Heâd be running from deep, so heâd in theory be unmarked, he would get past Benny and give him the option. Then as usual heâd get to the byline and get a ball in to the box. Thirdly, Assou-Ekotto, as good as he is, still has his occasional lapse of concentration. If heâs playing further up the pitch, these lapses in concentration may well cost possession, but they wonât cost goals. Bale is less prone to these lapses and so makes more sense that he is given more responsibility to defend our goal. Bale has the best engine in our team (up there with Parker) and up there with the best in the whole league. So who better to ask to run up and down the touchline for 90 minutes? Itâs just a thought.. 5 (or is it 3?) at the back?? Friedel Kaboul Dawson Vertonghen Walker-----------------------------Bale Sandro Modric Parker VDV STRIKER This is actually quite a similar formation to the 4-3-1-2 I mentioned earlier. The three centre backs are flanked by Walker and Bale who will have full license to get forward. When Walker and Bale are both bombing forward, Sandro or Parker will just drop in and play the role of 4th defender. So like other formations, this would end up looking similar to a 4-4-2 with Walker RM and Bale LM. And again, it leaves no room for Benny which is very harsh! I do love Benny, I promise! Itâs just these formations leave no room for him. Iâm not necessarily saying we should dump the 4-4-1-1 and use these more âexoticâ formations all the time, Iâm just asking Redknapp to show a bit more variety in his use of tactics, so that we can keep our opponents guessing and so itâs harder for them to set up to shut us down.
Good article but I disagree with most of it I think the changes in tactics proved unhelpful and whilst the switch between 4411 and 4231 were perhaps more natural than some of the changes you suggest it still didn't really work. You're correct in identifying Lennon's absence as the catalyst for the need to change tactics so why don't we just go out and by a backup right winger of a similar nature? It solves the problem at it's root rather than solving the problem of tactics that's created from having one of our two pacy wingers out injured. VDV is another one that needs proper backup, Dempsey would be an obvious choice but I can't see him being happy as backup so unless he was also used as backup for Bale also and able to genuinly challenge for both positions we might end up with another under used player falling out of form and then into the mire of our non-active reserves. With regards to tactics, 532/352 always makes sense when you talk about it but in reality I've never seen a team that has used it and it hasn't turned out defensive, or as a last resort curveball to throw at a team, like we did away at Stoke. That 4312 relies on fullbacks being essentially deep wingers and clogs the middle so whilst it has all the big names we need to play, it looks like it would hinder us playing to our stengths. The strikers will end up fanning out to the ings when the fullbacks defend and we lose any real shape. I think we all agree that we play best with two wingers(taking a leaf from LDL ) and we need VDV, Modric and Parker/Sandro all to start when available. To me that only leaves 451. I was in favour of using 4231 earlier in the season as it allows us to to use two of Parker/Sandro/Jake as it seems wasteful to have 3 quality players fighting it out for one spot but whilst I still think it could work, I think Bale's tendency to cut inside doesn't work when you've got VDV doing the same on the other flank. Also Modric would need some time to adapt to playing further up the field and Parker/Sandro/Jake didn't always look comfortable with the responsiblity of getting the ball moving forward all game, which Modric does so well. I suppose you could move modric alongside one of them but then you're just nit-picking about what's 4411 and 4231. 433 could be another option but I think it becomes too reliant on counter attacking and given how happy most teams have been to set up to get a point against us, I think it's playing into their hands. Not sure how VDV would fit into it either. Given that we know 4411 works, I want to see us set up our whole squad to play that way rather than having to change our whole tactics whenever Lennon or VDV start clutching their hamstrings. My squad template for next season would be: 1st team Friedel Walker, Kaboul, NEW PLAYER 1, Ekotto Lennon, Parker, Modric, Bale VDV NEW PLAYER 2 Europa League team Cudicini Naughton, Dawson, Caulker, NEW PLAYER 3 NEW PLAYER 4, Sandro, Huddlestone, Rose NEW PLAYER 5 NEW PLAYER 6 Plus: Smith, King, Jake, Townsend, Kane, Saha because we will inevitably have injuries. I'd go for Vertonghen, Ade, Shorey, Hoilett, Dempsey and Ba if at all possible as the new players.
Good reply! I tried to say in my last sentence that those things I suggested are the super-duper Premier League winning tactics that will guarantee us success. I'm just hoping we show a bit of creativity next season when we need to, rather than a repeat of this year. The problems of this season can be sorted in two ways - change of tactics when necessary, or new signings. You've focussed more on the new signings side, I've focussed more on tactics. It's good to get different opinions!
Haha yeah, given our recent record we'd be lucky to get 3 new players, let alone 6! I'm forever hopefull but if we don't manage it substitute Bassong, Bentley and Jenas for the new signings!
Also, I didn't mean to dampen the spirit of thinking outside the box, tactics wise. I wrote an article the other week saying we should play Bentley in the middle and turn him into Bastian Schweinstieger I also pitched the use of Khumalo as our saviour and using him as a striker for the last 10 minutes of games, like Mourinho did with Huth. I think I may have been drinking though
Hard to tell yet, as the squad seems far from settled, but it's an interesting read. Bringing in cover/competition for Lennon's a must, for me.
when lennon is out i would've been tempted to push Walker into RM and slot Corluka in at RB. That would have allowed us to continue the same game plan as previously. This may also work next season with Naughton instead of Corluka. That way we maintain to speedies on the right.
Yeah I like that idea. But that should only be a back-up for if we can't get a back-up for Lennon in. It's not going to be easy to find someone good enough to slot in seamlessly, but also be happy to be back-up.
That was my thinking. Whereas we all know Walker is the dog's balls and he is already guaranteed a place at RB. His final ball could probably do with some work, but then so could Lennon's so he's an even better like-for-like replacement
Interesting article, thanks. I enjoy hearing tactical ideas as I learn from them. It will be hard to come up with the right tactics when a number of key positions are still in doubt. May be best to say Spurs success and style rested considerably on having great speed on the wings, so finding a speedy back up to Lennon should be a high priority. I'd like to see the 3-5-2 formation tried a little more. But Benni playing up and Bale back seems too wild for me, and I'm not that conservative.
Right logic - wrong conclusion. We need to play 4231 all the time or bring in about five or six new squad members as in 4411 the only real like for like cover we currently have of sufficient quality is goal keeper, centre back, defensive midfield and possibly full back.
Well, I wouldn't read to much into it, its players that get beat, not the pattern they're standing in, anyone would think the team stays in these hypothetical situations for the duration of the game! At no point is the opposition considered, whether its home or away, attacking or defending, half of it is idle waffle (not the american meaning of waffle!). Shape constantly changes during a match, you need a couple of basic shapes and a couple of tweaks thats all really, complicating the hell out things like some suggestions here is lunacy....and funny!
The same would also be true of 4231, plus we'd be moving players out of position in our first XI in order to play it.
My problem with Harry is that he doesn't seem to know when to change the system in-play, to close down good teams or carve open average ones. He seems to use the same old tactics, time and time again, making us very predictable. Having said that, of course, Barca, Real, and Bayern (all very good teams) succumbed to Chelski's simple "park the bus and hope for a lucky goal on the counter" tactic, and you cannot get any more predictable than that!
SpursLegend. If this is a short article, give us an extra early warning when you're about drop a long one!! That's not a complaint by the way. Great article. I hope that Harry is reading. 4-4-1-1 does appear to be the way to go. Cover for all positions in that system is essential. We had the idea right a couple of seasons ago, we used a lot of players. I remember we had the highest number of different player scoring goals in the league at one point. I don't think that it's a fluke that the teams above us in the league all have their systems or formations and very rarely do they mess with them. They'd sooner switch personnel within the system first. We seem to cave when we fiddle too much. Having said that, there was one game this season in which we went 4-3-3 in an away game and it worked very well. This is the exception to the rule though.
We are going to have to agree to differ on this one PNP. I think Sandro is 'better' than Lennon and that VdV, Modric, Bale are a fine set of players for the 3 in a 4231. I think Modric is out of position in the middle of a 4411. So in my mind our first team ifront six is Sandro, Parker, VdV, Modric, Bale, Ade (if we keep him). Huddlestone, Livermore, Lennon, Pienaar, Kranjcar, New striker is a much better back up than anything we can manage for 4411. 4231 is a more flexible and inherently better system because it doesn't depend on very specific abilities of the players. As it happens Lennon, Parker, Modric, Bale, VdV, Ade are incredibly well suited to 4411, so it is very tempting to stick to it, but we'd really be stronger on average if we switched.
Yep, we'll have to agree to disagree on this one, PS. I don't think that Parker and Sandro works as a central pairing at all and I think that Modric is far better in a deeper role than as part of an advanced trio.
Understood. But like most Americans (and many others) I'm in the habit of overquantifying and/or overthinking sports, so it pleases me to have more information to fit into my (mis) understanding. Seeing people's new ideas may also be particularly revealing about them, their teams, and the underlying structure of the game. Finally, thinking and talking about Spurs is enjoyable, so having more things to think and talk about, however dubious their ultimate significance, is good--better than rehashing old arguments, anyway.
