After a week of speculation that Tottenham Hotspur were considering ending Igor Tudor’s spell as head coach and looking to a Premier League specialist, such as Sean Dyche, anyone who watched their 1-1 draw at Liverpool on Sunday could have been forgiven for thinking that switch had been made.
If Dyche had been appointed, this was exactly what you would expect: 4-4-2, deep defending, quick counter-attacking, long balls, set pieces. And thanks to Richarlison’s late equaliser, job done. Tottenham, using a compact system (below) and with players understanding their roles, looked much better.
It would be charitable to say Tottenham actually played well. Even their equaliser came after a period when Liverpool seemed more likely to double their one-goal advantage on the break.
But at this stage, it’s not about playing well. It’s about getting results. And the 4-4-2 system Tudor used at least demonstrated that he understands the basics of his short-term job.
Tudor was an unusual appointment as an interim head coach. He represents the most outside-the-box choice since Manchester United went for Ralf Rangnick. Tudor at least has more recent managerial experience, but he was similarly unfamiliar with the club, the players and the Premier League.
Being an interim manager is a somewhat contradictory experience. You’re generally walking into a desperately underperforming club, yet you don’t have time to try something different. Rangnick was seemingly tasked with overhauling the playing style. Such a thing simply isn’t possible when the manager has a limited shelf life.
Spurs’ opening performance under Tudor, a 4-1 defeat against Arsenal, was worrying because he asked his players to play a completely different style of football, involving strict man-marking and a higher defensive line. Tottenham were torn apart by Viktor Gyokeres, Bukayo Saka and Eberechi Eze, players whose displays have been inconsistent all season.
The three-man defence also failed miserably in a 3-1 home defeat against Crystal Palace. In particular, the double substitution after Micky van de Ven’s 38th-minute red card seemed to leave the players unsure of their positions. By half-time, Spurs had conceded three and were out of the game.
On Tuesday, Tudor’s decision to drop Guglielmo Vicario in favour of Antonin Kinsky backfired spectacularly in Madrid. All this points to him simply trying too much. Tottenham need simplicity.
So Tudor, channelling his inner Dyche, went back to basics. Granted, Tudor used this system at Fulham, bringing a poor performance and a 2-1 defeat, but it was a radically different line-up at Anfield. The entire midfield quartet was different. Two defenders were different. Dominic Solanke was partnered by Richarlison this time, with Randal Kolo Muani on the bench.
That is surely the right approach. Kolo Muani has struggled for form and has one Premier League goal in his career. Solanke has 41. Richarlison now has 73. This is all very basic. But that’s the point.
Using this simplistic approach, Spurs attacked rather well. This early move (below), which featured a long ball and a Solanke flick-on to prompt an exchange with Richarlison, effectively moved their attack beyond Liverpool’s defence. Tottenham have two strikers who can compete in the air and run in behind. Solanke’s cutback should have been followed by Souza to break in off the right and open the scoring.
Two proper strikers, clearly, gave Tottenham options in the box. When Mathys Tel received the ball on the left and looked up, he had two big centre-forwards to aim for. Richarlison reached for the ball, but nodded wide.
A notable feature of Tottenham’s plan was Vicario’s long passes, a contrast from how he played last season under Ange Postecoglou, and there’s an obvious link with Kinsky’s problems.
Vicario also went long regularly in that previous 4-4-2 game against Fulham. The difference, this time, was that Tottenham made more of his long balls. Look at the number of complete long passes — five green passes into the opposition half yesterday, compared to none against Fulham.
Sometimes, you don’t even need to win the aerial ball. You just need your opponent not to.
The below situation, with Vicario going long to Solanke, worked out well precisely because Solanke didn’t get a touch on the ball: Virgil van Dijk was trying to play Richarlison offside, and couldn’t get back goalside to prevent the Brazilian from getting a shot away. Alisson saved and palmed the ball to the side. Had he parried it back out, Solanke might have tucked home into an empty net.
Later, Tudor brought on Kolo Muani down the right, giving Tottenham three aerial targets when the ball was on the left. Here, Archie Gray crossed into the six-yard box, Richarlison flung himself at the ball, but couldn’t quite make contact.
And then, in the 90th minute, Tottenham finally scored their equaliser.
Again, there was a Vicario long ball. Again, it wasn’t about Tottenham winning the first aerial, but making sure they were quick to the second ball. Solanke was looking to feed off the scraps, but Kolo Muani got there first and slipped in Richarlison for a late equaliser.
Richarlison has experience of scoring crucial goals to help Everton avoid relegation, and he seems well-suited to Tottenham’s task for the rest of this season.
It remains to be seen whether Tudor stays in his job, or whether Tottenham press the panic button and plump for someone like Dyche. Either way, a back-to-basics approach seems Tottenham’s best bet of avoiding relegation.