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.
* 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.
* 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....
* 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 3rd 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 6th
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
MG
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