Reputations sometimes
grow about players...they don’t track back/they never give the ball away/they
go down easily/they are a brilliant every game and usually Man-of-the Match.
(For the last one I refer you to either Bryan Robson or Steven Gerrard as
viewed by a string of co-commentators). Sometimes the reputations are positive,
sometimes negative. And in most cases they are usually exaggerations, or simply
myths.
Gerrard and Robson
have had quiet games. Paul Scholes did occasionally misplace a pass. Re-watch
the 1981 Cup Final Replay and see how much hard toil Glenn Hoddle did actually
put in, largely ignored by his critics. And there was even apparently a game during
his spell in Holland when Luis Suarez did not roll-over six times when there
was a passing breeze, although admittedly that rumour is unsubstantiated.
The same is true of
Managers. Anyone who has played close attention to his time at Spurs knows that
the Harry Redknapp is not the perfect man-manager casual readers of the back
pages might believe. However, on the flip side of that, he is also is more open
minded to tactical changes than the picture his harshest critics paint.
At Portsmouth he went
with his gut instinct, and against some of his more cautious players’ wishes,
to change to a system he felt was more suitable to the players he had. From the
outside, he looked right. He had three centre-backs reasonably comfortable on
the ball, wide players who may be more effective in advanced position than at
full-back, and a player who could do with a bit of freedom of the middle of the
park (Niko Kranjcar, incidentally). So, he changed the system to 3-4-1-2,
against popular convention, and after a week practising it in training.
He has been more
reluctant to change systems at Tottenham, but he has occasionally done so.
Towards the end of his first season, in similar circumstances to Portsmouth, he
played three centre-backs away at Everton; he utilised two attacking full-backs
(Alan Hutton and Gareth Bale) as wing backs, with three centre-backs
comfortable on the ball (Corluka, King and Woodgate), a central midfield three which
gave more license for the talented Modric to roam (alongside Jenas and
Huddlestone), behind a front two (Keane and Defoe).
The three in central
midfield is key, because it is very unusual for any side of the highest calibre
to play without three in the middle now, either through a player being able to play
between the lines by dropping off from the hole in a 4-4-1-1, or by playing a
4-2-3-1.
Rarer is the 4-3-3, but seemingly forgotten by most, Redknapp used this positively, and promisingly, with Spurs a couple of times last season.
Rarer is the 4-3-3, but seemingly forgotten by most, Redknapp used this positively, and promisingly, with Spurs a couple of times last season.
In the second league
game of last season we had an excellent win at Stoke with Lennon and Bale
playing either side of Crouch in front of a midfield three of Palacios,
Huddlestone and Jenas. Also away, in the second half of the league game at
Wolves, Lennon and Bale came on, this time to play in a front three with Defoe
in the middle, and looked like creating a goal-scoring opportunity every time
they got the ball. Lennon played on the left, and Bale on the right, and while
they hugged the touchline when they received the ball, the three midfielders
allowed them to be more advanced and yet still have space to run onto, inside,
on their favoured foot.
This is exactly how Angel
Di Maria and Cristiano Ronaldo play at Real Madrid, how Messi and Ronaldinhio
both started at Barcelona, and how great wide players from Chris Waddle to Johan
Cryuff have prospered. Football at the highest level is all about Movement.
Great forward players
also need to be able to rotate within those forward positions. At International
Level for Wales Bale has no problem playing on the right because he has three
central midfielders behind him, and plenty of space to come infield. And as
early as 2006, Martin Jol wrote in The Times during the World Cup to say that
Aaron Lennon could play in the hole, and he thought he could do that for
England. He rarely played Lennon in the hole himself, with Robbie Keane and
Dimitar Berbatov at his disposal the following season, but when he did (at the
front of a diamond in the 3-3 draw at Stamford Bridge in the FA Cup), he was
fantastic.
As well as Bale and
Lennon, Spurs have Rafa Van Der Vaart; so three match-winners who can play
between the lines and win games. Not all are going to be fit or on form all the
time, so the challenge is to use them, and the rest of the squad, to the
greatest effect.
Yesterday at
Newcastle, Spurs started well for the first quarter of an hour but started
getting sloppy in possession and the game got scrappy. Newcastle never really
threatened, but Spurs failed to capitalise on being, on paper anyway, the
superior team player-for-player.
To begin with, Modric
tucked into midfield from the left, Bale was advanced on the right, Van Der
Vaart was playing behind Adebayor, with Ekotto effectively starting as a
wing-back, clearly under tactical instruction. The shape looked promising. The
movement in the final third created an early opportunity for Van Der Vaart
after a lovely dummy by Adebayor, and twice nearly created further chances,
with final flicks just failing to put Van Der Vaart in.
But, Spurs still
lacked a cutting-edge. Bale looked ineffective from the right, but was even
less effective when he moved to the left midway through the first-half. There
is a reluctance from many fans for Bale to play on the right, perhaps
naturally, because when you look back at many of his great moments they have
been on the left. Both his outstanding performances against Inter were on the
left, as was his wonderful performance at home against Chelsea in April 2010,
and countless other games. But in many of those games, including the three I
mentioned, he was running from deep and running into space, against teams who were
pushing up on the attack.
He gets less space to
do the most damage when pushed high-up up on the left of a 4-4-2 against a team
that is defending deep and in numbers, which is why Redknapp has often said he
could be most dangerous at a left back, where he first showed how good he was
when Redknapp finally gave him a run. His left-foot and technical ability is so good however, he is
still the best option on the left of a 4-4-2 not just at the club, but arguably
in the world. But, then, who plays 4-4-2 now?
Bale has also
excelled when given more freedom, such as away at Arsenal last season, at home
against the same opposition in April 2010, as well as his successes playing on
the right already mentioned. His poor performance yesterday, which including
giving the ball away cheaply when doing pieces of skill he usually nails
against the best opposition in the world, was due to form rather more than
positioning.
With over
half-an-hour remaining and the score at 1-1 the introduction of Jermain Defoe,
who was fresh from two weeks without a game, looked to be what was needed. And indeed,
Defoe came on and made a difference, scoring the second goal and twice being in
positions that could have won Tottenham the match (the first time he didn’t
receive the ball from Adebayor, and the second time he failed to square the ball
to Jake Livermore who had an empty net).
However, Redknapp
could have been braver with his substitution. He could have brought Defoe on,
but rather than taking off Van Der Vaart, he could have brought off Bale, and
played either a diamond, a 4-3-1-2 with Van Der Vaart in a free role behind the strikers or even the Christmas Tree.
Redknapp said he took Van Der Vaart off because he had played two International games; that’s true, but so had Bale, and Van Der Vaart utilises his energy in dangerous positions (as Joe Cole noted at the weekend conserving energy is favoured more outside the Premier League), as opposed to the all action Bale, who clearly looked tired.
There are times when there are more reasons for Van Der Vaart to come off, such as when he is on a booking, but having spoken to the press about a historic hamstring injury in the week (leading to speculative team news Van Der Vaart was doubtful, when he wasn't), it seemed Redknapp was expediently jumping into the bed he had already made. Did Van Der Vaart really look “leggy”? Or more tired than Bale? Or was it a kop out to not change the shape?
Redknapp said he took Van Der Vaart off because he had played two International games; that’s true, but so had Bale, and Van Der Vaart utilises his energy in dangerous positions (as Joe Cole noted at the weekend conserving energy is favoured more outside the Premier League), as opposed to the all action Bale, who clearly looked tired.
There are times when there are more reasons for Van Der Vaart to come off, such as when he is on a booking, but having spoken to the press about a historic hamstring injury in the week (leading to speculative team news Van Der Vaart was doubtful, when he wasn't), it seemed Redknapp was expediently jumping into the bed he had already made. Did Van Der Vaart really look “leggy”? Or more tired than Bale? Or was it a kop out to not change the shape?
A Christmas Tree, a 4-3-2-1
with Van Der Vaart and Defoe advanced of a three-man midfield, could have been
the best system with the players, had Redknapp been brave enough to take Bale off.
It would have allowed Modric to have freedom in the middle, the attacking full-backs
space to push into on both sides with Livermore and Parker protecting the
centre-backs, while also giving Van Der Vaart more license to roam as well.
Instead, Bale
struggled on the left, and we were without our most regular match-winner for
the final third of the game. There are times when it is ideal two have two
recognised strikers on the pitch, but it would be foolish to think that 4-4-2
is the only way to do that, particularly with the players we have got.
Just a look at the
current league table is a reminder that when Man City or Man Utd play two
strikers, one of them drops in the hole, or when they play with a front three,
two of them come in from advanced positions out-wide. Just as Chelsea also do, with
three central midfielders behind them. Just as Barcelona do. And Real Madrid.
And on the International stage Spain, Holland and Germany.
At the highest level
shape and movement are key. Redknapp knows that, and he knows he has the
players. He just needs to be brave enough to put that into practice. To Dare is
to Do.
MG
MG
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