This season – Jose Mourinho’s second in charge at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – was supposed to be the one in which Spurs finally realised their potential and added some silverware to their trophy cabinet. After all, Mourinho has achieved success in his second season at a whole string of clubs, including Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid.
In the same way that the best players who play live roulette at Loyal Casino don’t allow themselves to be distracted by setbacks and take a winning mentality into each spin, Mourinho has forged a similar work ethic that has stood him in good stead throughout his career… until now. Although his Tottenham team have shown flashes of brilliance this season, they’ve all too often been found wanting and giving up leads to inferior opposition, dropping 10 points from winning positions. Why?
Negative tactics
Perhaps the biggest reason for Spurs’ inability to close out games has been the tactical approach they have taken to them. Despite boasting a squad blessed with plenty of attacking riches, they have been limited from exploiting them by Mourinho’s defensive setup. He likes his teams to sit back and operate a low block, with midfielders Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and Mohammed Sissoko often asked to drop back and take up the role of auxiliary defenders in a back six.
This means that even on the occasions when Spurs have taken the lead, they haven’t pressed their advantage and looked for a second goal to kill off the game. While that approach might be sensible against big teams like Manchester City and Chelsea – where it yielded positive results in back-to-back games earlier this season – it can’t work all the time, as evidenced by their two defeats against Liverpool. What’s more, Spurs fans have been frustrated with Mourinho’s persistence with the negative setup against teams that Spurs would expect to beat, like Brighton and Fulham.
Flimsy defence
The kind of ultra-defensive setup outlined above only works when it’s built on a foundation of a solid defensive unit. Despite their best efforts, the Spurs defence simply haven’t been good enough this season. Eric Dier is still adjusting to the transition to centre back, meaning he’s always got a mistake in him, while Toby Alderweireld has lost his pace and Davinson Sanchez looks shorn of confidence. Japhet Tanganga and Joe Rodon are still unproven at this level.
What this means is that although Spurs might defend adequately for the majority of the game, the fact that they spend so much time in their own penalty area is inevitably going to invite chances for the opposing team. They have been particularly susceptible to set pieces and long balls into the box, when it seems almost as though the same luck which characterises live roulette games will dictate whether or not the ball ends up in the back of the net. That’s unacceptable for a team aiming to claim a place in the top four and a trophy at the same time.
Overreliance on Harry Kane
It’s no secret that Jose Mourinho is a big fan of Harry Kane, with the Portuguese asserting that his talismanic captain will “break every possible record” earlier this month. But while Kane has been an important piece of Tottenham’s gameplay for many seasons now, he has become indispensable under Mourinho. That’s because Kane has dropped deeper this season and helps link a rapid transition between defence and attack – something that is crucial to Mourinho’s counter-attacking blueprint.
Spurs’ overreliance on Kane was clear for all to see in the recent games he missed through injury. In the second half against Liverpool, and in the games against Brighton and Chelsea, Spurs looked bereft of ideas going forwards. Son Heung-Min, their other world-class attacker, stepped up his output in Kane’s absence last year, but without his strike partner to pick out his runs this time around, Son looks far less effective. As such, Spurs will be hoping Kane doesn’t pick up another niggle before the season is over.
