Bodø/Glimt is a place Tottenham Hotspur will remember for a long time in their club’s history.
On the way to beating Manchester United in the UEFA Europa League Final last season, Spurs faced Bodø/Glimt away in the semi-final in a tough tie but came out on top, with memorable images of the players dancing in the crowd in the cold emerging after the full-time whistle.
As it happened, the Europa League win and breaking the 17-year-long barren spell of a trophy were not enough to keep Ange Postecoglou in the job.
In the summer, the reins were passed to promising Brentford manager Thomas Frank.
The results thus far have been encouraging, with Spurs sitting fourth in the table and conceding just four goals.
Frank seems to have brought many of Brentford’s tactics with him to Spurs, which is somewhat surprising for an elite team.
Tottenham were a team under Postecoglou that were hell-bent on an attack-first, possession-based brand of football; what we’re seeing with Frank is totally different.
Bodø/Glimt, playing in their own stadium in the Arctic Circle, is a special and hostile place to play due to the weather and the uniqueness of the pitch.
Although the match ended in a 2-2 draw, it gave us more insight into some concerns for Tottenham fans and more admiration for the Norwegian side.
Overemphasis On Progression Via The Wing
For one of the first chances Bodø/Glimt created, the team from Norway turned the ball over in Tottenham’s half after dispossessing Pedro Porro on the wing.
We can discuss how well Bodø/Glimt turned the ball over later in the article; for now, I want to emphasise Tottenham’s limited number of players in the middle of the pitch.
This continued to happen; the ball would go wide, and instead of a pass inside or an attempt to progress the ball centrally, it was always down the wing.
The image above shows the few players Tottenham actually had in the middle of the pitch.
This is after the Tottenham defence breaks up an attack, but as Kevin Danso comes charging out with the ball, again, the lack of options to pass to is simply staggering.
Of course, Tottenham has men behind the ball as they were defending a set-piece, but instead of patiently going backwards and waiting for gaps to open up, Danso intends to charge out with the ball, and there are no midfield options again.
With the situation with Porro above, on the opposite flank, the exact same move was attempted by Djed Spence.
As he moved the ball forward, the point was to get a Spurs winger directly involved whilst dragging a full-back high up the pitch, but what happened in the situation was that it was easily quelled.
The problem with this form of progression is that it’s not in the area where teams are hurt the most (central).
It’s also at a part of the pitch where players have less space to wriggle out of challenges.
It led to Bodø/Glimt quickly regaining possession of the ball after they lost it in attack, as shown below.
Frank may want Spurs to build up this way to put crosses into the box, but building up wide from so deep is asking a lot of the wide players.
With the manner in which Tottenham’s wide players were trying to build up, Bodø/Glimt would steal the ball deep in Tottenham’s half, go down the wing, and look to cross it.
It’s certainly not a current trend in football, and whilst it could be innovative for Frank, as there were other occasions where Lucas Bergvall in midfield would attempt to come across to the wing before moving forward and attempting a give-and-go, there were clear flaws.
Tottenham Deep Low-Block
With Tottenham Hotspur’s size and resources compared to Bodø/Glimt, one would think that the North London club would be the team to dictate possession and have most of the ball; however, the Norwegian side had 52% possession.
However, it wasn’t just possession stats that struck; it was the manner in which Frank’s side voluntarily dropped extremely deep in a low block for large parts of the game.
This is not to say that there is anything wrong with playing this way, but it puts a ton of pressure on your own box.
Intriguingly, Frank’s reign began with a notable win over Manchester City and an excellent performance vs PSG, where they were unlucky to lose on penalties.
Aside from that, Tottenham Hotspur have found it difficult to break down teams like Bournemouth and Wolves, but have frequently dropped deep into a low block, much like Frank’s Brentford side.
At times, it feels as though we’re seeing the same tactics the Dane deployed at Brentford but with different players.
This is in the 16th minute of the game, but it’s indicative of how compact and deep Spurs were in their own half.
All eleven men were behind the ball, restricting Bodø/Glimt’s central progression, forcing them wide.
You could take this image above and compare it with many games Thomas Frank managed at Brentford.
It’s almost a carbon copy.
Playing this way at Brentford may have been ok, but fans will want to see more at some point.
Of course, results have been good thus far, but as always, when it comes to clubs the size of the North London Team, it’s about so much more.
It may also set a bad precedent, as Tottenham Hotspur’s approach to Bodø/Glimt may encourage them to play other UEFA Champions League games similarly.
This may suit Spurs with the stature of some of the clubs in the competition.
The emphasis on keeping compact freed up the flanks for Bodø/Glimt to attack.
This led to situations like the one above, where the Norwegian team would get down the touchline and look to cross.
This fits in with the theme of Tottenham playing defensively for a big team, relying on defending the box.
Do you see what I’m getting at?
It feels strange that Tottenham, with players like Xavi Simons and Pedro Porro, have gone to Bodø/Glimt to defend and keep things solid.
Conclusion
Context, as always in football, must be provided.
Much like their form in the Premier League, though it may not look pretty, it’s yielding results.
Thomas Frank’s team sit ninth in the Champions League rankings after drawing one game and beating Villarreal in the other.
They scored late to rescue a point against Wolverhampton Wanderers this past weekend and once again woke up to draw the game late on against Bodø/Glimt when they had to force the issue.
Tottenham were effective later on as they had to chase the game, relying on Pedro Porro’s excellent crossing to drag them back into it when they could’ve been 3-0 down had Bodø/Glimt converted a penalty.
The point is that, in the summer, signing Mohammed Kudus, making Mathys Tel‘s move permanent, and capping it off with a move for a player as fantastic as Xavi Simons should’ve been a statement of intent.
Spurs’ attack under Postecoglou wasn’t the issue; it was the defence.
With a midfield featuring Rodrigo Bentancur, Lucas Bergvall, and Pape Matar Sarr, it’s no surprise that the creativity levels were low.
James Maddison is still injured, and a new manager is settling into his role with a new set of players.
However, a worrying trend may be emerging.
If you discount their win vs Doncaster Rovers, they’ve only won two out of six games and seem to be relying heavily on scoring late goals.
Against Bournemouth, when Tottenham had to dictate the tempo and hold most of the possession, they mustered just one shot on target at home.
Bournemouth in reply? Six shots on target.
The circumstances of last season mean that the bar is extremely low when it comes to the Premier League, and Frank’s early back-to-back wins vs Burnley and Manchester City have given him a strong platform.
The worrying aspect from a Spurs perspective is that Frank has made Tottenham a defensively sound team.
Still, they may spend more time defending deeper and closer to their own boundary, which would rob them of the one thing they knew how to do under their former manager.
At the end of the day, it’s a point away on tough ground with a unique atmosphere, but perhaps when looking further at some of the tactics Frank deployed and the direction Tottenham are heading in, there is cause for concern.
