Street Spirit

Further to the events at White Hart Lane on Saturday, I wrote this Football Column for The Substantive on Monday (19 March 2012) - http://thesubstantive.com/2012/03/street-spirit/

My e-book on Tottenham Hotspur's return to the European Cup after an absence of 49 seasons is now available to buy for £4.27 (inc VAT) on Amazon and Smashwords.

Wide Open Space

In the board game 'Operation' a buzzing sound would go of when you failed to cleanly remove a part from the patient. Recently, selecting the Tottenham team has been like a board game where the jigsaw pieces haven't slotted perfectly into place and a 'Family Fortunes' wrong answer sound has greeted the team sheet, with an imaginary cross flashing in our heads followed by frustration on the pitch.

Ahead of last Saturday's game at Everton there were certain factors to consider, which would be part of a formula if we were inputting this into a computer to help us:

* Aaron Lennon was out injured.
* Jermain Defoe was bang in form.
* In the preceding game at Stevenage, Rafa Van Der Vaart came back from injury and ran the second-half from a central midfield position, playing behind two strikers.
* Louis Saha had been injured but was fit to return to his former club.

* Everton have a narrow pitch.
* Everton would most likely play 4-4-1-1.
* Tottenham had lost their last two league games, being dominated in the first half away at Arsenal by playing a 4-4-2 v a 4-3-3 but playing well at home to Man Utd when both teams played a 4-4-2 and Spurs pressed high up the pitch.

Further to that, there are the more general factors about the current Tottenham Squad that were relevant to Saturday’s selection:

* In the absence of Lennon, with Pienaar on loan, there is no player in the squad who would naturally hold onto a wide right position without drifting inside, including Kranjcar, Bale and Modric. (Kyle Walker could do it theoretically, but it would be a change to suit a system, rather than a system to suit the players).
* While Modric has done well from the left, including the previous week v Manchester Utd, he is at his most influential playing centrally.
* Van Der Vaart is technically the best player at the club - he can control the ball in any situation, with his back to goal and under pressure, or distribute the ball from deep, spreading the play or dictating the tempo through intelligent ball circulation. Also, he has the vision and technique to play killer balls. And of course he scores vital goals.
* With King, Kabul and Gallas, we have centre-backs who are comfortable on the ball, and can join the play.
* And then there is the position of Gareth Bale to consider....

When Bale was signed from Southampton he was an attacking left-wing back, with a good record from set-pieces. His Tottenham debut, away at Old Trafford in August 2007, was a good performance on the left-side of midfield, with much of the game played in the middle section of the pitch. Due to injury and Managerial changes, apart from an excellent free-kick against Arsenal, and some success in League Cup games, Bale’s career at Tottenham didn’t really kick start at Tottenham until Harry Redknapp finally gave him a chance at left-back in the absence of the injured Beniot Assou-Ekotto at home to Peterborough in the FA Cup 3^rd Round in January 2010.

With Nico Kranjcar going inside at every opportunity from his nominal starting position in front of him, Bale was influential in that game as well at the matches against Liverpool, Leeds, Fulham and Birmingham that month, by running from deep, overlapping and adding width on the left. Bale continued affecting the game from left-back in February, with assists home and away in the FA Cup against Bolton, and it wasn’t until the FA Cup 6^th Round goalless draw away at Fulham in March, when Assou-Ekotto returned, that Bale started on the left-side of midfield. Bale went back to left-back for the home league game against Portsmouth a few weeks later and again got another assist and created more great chances, but since then, has largely started higher up the pitch and so not burdened with defensive responsibilities that would detract from his game.

Looking back at his best performances playing in an advanced role on the left since, many of them have come when Tottenham as a team have had a deeper starting position in the game; against Chelsea in the run-in 2010, and at home to Internationale in the Champions League he was virtually unplayable, running from deep with pace and technique. Likewise, away against Inter at the San Siro his first two wonderful individual goals started from runs in his own half. (His third excellent strike was after Lennon run inside, where he was also in a more central position).

This season, his best efforts on the left, at home to Chelsea to cross for Adebayor, came where he ran into space. When Spurs have had to play against teams who have defended deep, and in numbers, such as at home to Everton last season, Bale has found it difficult to influence the game, with not only three men on him, but nowhere to go when he got the ball. Which is why is given the license to roam.

Even in the 2010 run-in, his goal at home to Arsenal came from the inside right position, and last season his goal glut pre-Christmas came when he was given more freedom in the final third, including his lovely goal that began our comeback at The Emirates. When he played in a 4-3-3 away at Stoke, and playing-off the right in that system from the bench against Wolves last term, he has looked devastating, with wide open space to run into.

Aaron Lennon also prospered, when like Bale he came off the bench at Wolves last season, and with just one striker, was able to cut-in on his favoured foot will as well as go down the line. Lennon also looks dangerous when he switches on the left in a 4-4-2, because as a natural winger he stretches play, as is evident by him creating our best chance against Manchester United two weeks ago as soon as he swapped, and with his excellent goals against QPR and Fulham this season, both goals showing he has the ability to go either side with his dribbling.

The inverted winger is nothing new, not even to Spurs, with Chris Waddle and Cliff Jones examples of World-Class players who were both footed, and could come inside or go down the flank. Bale though, he is a different style of player, and like Cristino Ronaldo who started as a right-winger, can do more damage centrally. That game against QPR were Lennon swapped was also another where Bale prospered inside, as he did in his best performance of the season, away at Norwich in a fluid 4-3-3. Even in recent games where he has been criticized, he won the penalty at the Emirates through his run through the middle, and could have stolen the game at Anfield when he tried to score through the keeper’s legs.

Bale looked to be back on form against Stevenage with all three assists – one from an excellent long pass from the left-back position, one from winning the penalty from a run from the right wing, and one from a throw-in. But he did look good throughout the second half from the left.

He obviously wouldn’t get that space away at Goodison on the left wing, but the problem with playing him on the right against Everton was with two strikers and a narrow pitch - while he could still threaten by going down the line, as he did a couple of times in the first half, there was less space for him to go inside. So, without the injured Lennon and the desire to include Defoe as one of two strikers, Redknapp could have played 3-5-2, with Assou-Ekotto one of three defenders, in the knowledge Everton would start with one striker. That would have given Bale space to run into, and mean we weren’t outnumbered in the middle, as we were in the first half, which was too scrappy and too open. And, of course, it would have meant Van Der Vaart and Modric could both influence the game from the middle.

The second half was better possession wise, but with Everton defending deep and in numbers, and with a lead to hold onto, space was limited; despite two excellent killer balls by Van Der Vaart and Assou-Ekotto respectively, we didn’t score, and now have lost three leagues in succession.

When Redknapp said Bale played on the right for Wales in interviews afterwards, it was slightly misleading, as he does, but not in a 4-4-2. Redknapp clearly understands the benefits of giving Bale the license to do damage, and in the amount of different formations he has played this season, has shown he has the ability to be flexible. But he didn’t do it on Saturday. If everyone is fit and on form, a 4-5-1, with Bale and Lennon able to swap and roam, and Van Der Vaart and Modric able to influence the game from the middle, is our best bet, whatever the opposition. When that is not the case, sometimes a bit of thinking outside the box is required.

MG

My e-book on Tottenham Hotspur's return to the European Cup for the first time in 49 Seasons is now available to buy on Amazon and Smashwords.