An uncomfortable scoreline, but eventually a reasonably comfortable performance. Tottenham Hotspur cemented their place among the top spots of the Europa League table with a 1-0 home win over Eredevise team AZ Alkmaar.
A heavily rotated Spurs XI battled initially against the outgunned and overwhelmed Dutch side who generally offered little in response but still had chances to land a sucker punch, before a second half lift saw Tottenham coast to three points. It was another solid win, marking Tottenham’s seventh win in eight matches.
There was plenty to talk about from the match: Fraser Forster’s solid performance, as well as Troy Parrot making his (in)glorious return, but this is my article, so you get my takeaways. Nobody will read them anyway so feel free to skip straight to the comments! Alternatively, read on.
There is such a thing as too much rotation
We are all well aware of the congested football calendar, and with Tottenham in Europe there are a lot of matches to be played and minutes to go around. That means rotating players to keep things fresh, distribute time on the pitch around the squad, and stave off injury. Up to this point, however, Ange Postecoglou has found it challenging to find the perfect balance.
His biggest success in this respect was probably against Ferencvaros, with a good mix of youth, squad, and experienced players; but today, the team struggled for fluency and cohesion until changes were made. There were regular wayward passes, mistimed runs, and a few moments at the back of which a stronger side would have made more.
In this writer’s opinion (and to be clear, this is just my opinion) an ideal balance is this: three changes in the back six - four max, but only if only a maximum two of those are in the backline; one of the two attacking eights (both are fine if the 6 has stayed consistent); and two of the front three. Maybe that’s being conservative, but in terms of both providing defensive coordination and protecting your younger players by still retaining a level of experience and starting-level skill helps ease the drop between the starting XI and a rotated side.
We don’t want to see a repeat of the numerous cup knockouts Spurs have seen in recent years.
Moore or less of Werner
Following on from the above point, fluidity in the front three was sorely lacking in the first half and Ange Postecoglou was clearly not happy with what he was seeing. Richarlison was almost anonymous in the first half, and Mikey Moore was wasteful and easily dispossessed. Timo Werner, while not exactly anything to write home about, created the best chance of the half, putting the ball on a platter for Moore before spurning a chance of his own after being played in by a glorious outside-of-the-boot chipped pass by Lucas Bergvall. He seemed the biggest threat around the box, and though his finishing at times is laughable, his all-round play tends to be good.
The Timo Werner paradox is thus: only Timo Werner could get on the end of the chances he does; and only Timo Werner could miss them.
The easy option for Postecoglou could have been waiting to see what his side could offer following the break, or perhaps pulling the youngster Moore for a more experienced contributor; but he instead opted to make a half-time change and introduce Brennan Johnson for the luckless Werner. The reality is football is about goals, and it’s also about planning for the future.
It was simultaneously a deft demonstration of belief, and a brutal instance of calculation. Moore, after being moved to his preferred left side, immediately sprung to life, beating players, creating chances, and cutting the AZ defense to ribbons. The 17-year-old could be Spurs’ starting left winger within the next 2-3 years; Werner will more than likely no longer be with the club. It was a call that could have backfired on Postecoglou in that specific match, but even if it did, it was still arguably the right call. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Moore receive increased minutes as the season progresses, and Werner’s playing time dwindle. James Maddison is certainly a Moore fan:
From minute 45 to 65 I thought we had Neymar on the left wing. He was brilliant. Just demanding the ball and fearless. [He has] that young, fearless mentality and you never want to take that away from him.
We can’t escape penalty & VAR drama
There’s always an argument that VAR is less of a problem on the continent, and the real issue with the implementation of VAR in the Premier League is more the processes and the people driving it, and less the fact that we utilize it at all. I’m arguably a VAR fan, at least in principle, but this match was one of possibly many examples that rebut the “VAR good in Europe, bad in England” theory.
On top of the penalty that was given, Spurs could have had two other penalties today, possibly more; the challenge on James Maddison particularly stood out to me as one where the referee might have at least wanted to check things on his monitor. Instead, VAR took its usual approach that we are so used to in the PL: referees upholding a fellow referee’s decision, even with pretty solid evidence to the contrary.
The penalty drama didn’t stop there, either, with Maddison and Richarlison clashing over who should take the penalty that was awarded. It wasn’t a great look for the team, with Richarlison refusing to yield to his captain on the day, before being ushered away by his squadmates.
All’s well that ends well though, with Maddison eventually opting to change his mind, allowing Richarlison to dispatch the spot kick:
Maddison spoke about this moment as well in an interview following the match:
There was a little thought in my head, when I was stood there I had a little conversation with myself and just thought, ‘Richy’s coming back from an injury, it can be difficult, especially for a striker’. I learnt that last year when I had a long injury, it took me a while to get my first goal. So [it was] a split-second decision to let him take it and that’ll do him the world of good...
...even if I wasn’t the captain… I still like to think I’d make decisions that are best for the team. I thought it would be best if Richy took it, he’s a good penalty taker.
It was a great moment of leadership from Maddison, and though the optics of the initial spat were poor, the ensuing moments showed just how united and focused this team are. Maybe this is the moment where Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs reach the next level?
