There was no panic. Not a single drop of fear from me before this match began. Even before a ball was kicked, I had this weird air of confidence coming into this match. It felt a lot like before we faced Everton, but even more firm in my conviction.
I knew how this match would go. It was fairly obvious, we’ve faced Brentford before, they were the first opponent of the Ange era. 5-3-2 passive mid block, spraying balls over the top and into the channels to catch us sleeping on the counter.
I didn’t expect us to concede a minute in, but that’s a real testament to our opponents ability to maximize dead ball situations. And make no mistake here, Brentford are a good side and probably the best side at set plays after Arsenal. Even without Bernardo Cueva (their former set piece coach now at Chelsea) I knew they would be a threat in those moments. Fortunately for us, we seem to have unearthed our own secret weapon. (Nick Montgomery, I’ll make sure you get your flowers soon.)
I want to take a look at the slight tactical tweaks Ange made to the team, and highlight how they helped us dominate a solid Brentford side.
For starters, one look at the stats from this match tells a story that’s quite different from what we’ve come accustomed to with Spurs.
Having less of the ball was a choice on Postecoglou’s part. Not having a winger that can take their man on 1v1 put us in a position to utilize two of the best straight line ball carriers (Son and Johnson) and make the match way more transitional.
You can see it here, we allowed Brentford to build up as often as they liked because we believe in our ability to press high and create goal scoring opportunities from those moments. 271 passes in their half is deliberate, even with our super intense pressing structure. Dominic Solanke’s first goal in a Spurs shirt came from forcing a high turnover during Brentford’s build up phase.
Another tweak made was having Son and Maddison way closer to the penalty box, and swapping the two’s positions on the pitch. It looked a bit something like this—
The idea here was to utilize Maddison’s close control and dribbling ability to create cutback situations on the outside facing up against van den Berg and Ajer. He was constantly 1v1 with at least one of the two Brentford defenders, and when they doubled up on him, he had an outlet inside in Son or Udogie. This is something I’ve been crying out for for ages, we’ve needed Maddison more involved in our final third actions. Playing him next to the defensive midfielder, while good for our build up and ball retention, is bad for our attack.
Sonny playing centrally is good for him as well, he thrives in the half spaces and cutting inside to create space for a shot or pass. He had multiple moments in this position to get a shot away or make space for a teammate to run into. Something to keep an eye on for the future is Son in this psuedo-10 role.
I highlighted last newsletter how much I am enjoying the Kulusevski midfield revolution, and I can’t stress enough how much that still stands. For some reason, he’s just seemed to find a home for us centrally. His intensity, ball carrying and creative passing has unlocked a new level for us as a team. I’d like to see him get some goal contributions to compliment his all around game going forward.
Brennan Johnson also had another wonderful outing. We really played to his strengths today, by making the match a transitional one, we were able to get him space to run into and create from.
I believe Brennan can build on this, he has all the attributes of a top winger, he’s just missing confidence and match sharpness. I’d like to see him use his left foot more, I think that if he can find a way to incorporate good shots from both feet into his game he will skyrocket as a player. But he’s young, and he’ll find his rhythm.
Of course, the work isn’t done yet. We’ve got Europa League to worry about, so I’m expecting to see a few changes to the team before we head up to Manchester to face Erik ten Hag’s side. These next two are so very important, and if we walk away with six points…the season starts to look extremely different.
Spot on - well researched and written in an engaging style.