Welcome to Two Minute Tactics, a new feature where I take a look at a key tactic from our last match in just two minutes.
We start our Two Minute Tactics with our win at Villa Park where we moved the ball to get quickly beyond the Aston Villa midfield and directly at their shaky back line.
The tactic was extremely effective at carving Aston Villa open for two key reasons.
It first of all got us straight at a defence that has been conceding goals with them in a vulnerable position. Moving the ball quickly forward meant that we bypassed the Aston Villa midfield and exposed their centre backs in space.
Secondly, if the Aston Villa defenders did get to the ball, they would often be forced in to an error. This allowed us to hoover up or win the second balls and start our attacks from much higher up the field. A higher starting position with less defenders to beat should equal the creation of better scoring chances.
Playing in this manner also allowed us to get players between the lines. As the ball went rapidly forward, our trio of advanced midfielders were looking to fill the space behind the Aston Villa midfield and in front of their back four to wreak maximum havoc. By getting in to this space they were often first to the loose balls from the Villa defender’s errors and miscued clearances. This allowed us too have a better position from which to start our attacks.
The result was two Harry Kane goals and it could have been much more if we’d been more clinical in front of the net. The tactic allowed us to carve out a number of high percentage scoring chances that could’ve added to the score. You can read the full Aston Villa 0-2 Spurs match report for more depth on the game.
I hope you enjoy the new Two Minute Tactics feature. Let me know your thoughts about it in the comments section below.
Paulo says
3 posts in 5 days! Great to have the analysis back. Love it.
Spurs Fanatic - Mark says
Thanks Paulo. There’s been a lot to discuss ;)
Reinert Indrehus says
Good job! I thought we were a bit unlucky to not add to our goals, especially since Villa had a couple of great chances to the end. Win the rest of the matches, team! COYS
Spurs Fanatic - Mark says
Thanks Reinert. It should’ve been more comfortable as we almost threw it away at the end. I’d like to see us take the next step and start putting mediocre teams away with that decisive third goal.
Itoe Ebeku says
Yes, the could be more goals from Spurs against a demoralized Villa but lets not forget that Aston Villa had a chance to make it 2-2 towards the end of the game. Remember the 2-2 draw against Stoke at the Lane, earlier in season where we played very well but failed to win. I am just trying to emphasis that both scoring enough and not conceding must remain the key. The attacking quality of Walker and Rose is great but defending should be one of the main priorities. The center backs must work on air ball dwells and midfield players must put their legs more into the tackle. Nobody should be carried away as there is serious work to be done. Winning the league must be the target as we have been eliminated in all the cups. There is no room for error as we must do all it takes to overpower Leicester and continue to sit on top of Arsenal and Man City. The main talk should be the right players to get this job done. I swear, its getting crucial.
Spurs Fanatic - Mark says
There will be a few twists and turns in the Premier league race. Neither us nor Leicester are used to being at the top of the league and now every match is vital so the pressure will be higher than ever. I’d rather be in the position of chasing than leading at this point, as its difficult to be the front runner when you have no experience of winning leagues and with 8 games still left to go.