Sign up here to receive The Score newsletter every Monday morning this season for Daniel Storey’s verdict on all 20 Premier League clubs
Moments before Tottenham’s Ange Postecoglou era began in Brentford, the players headed towards the corner where the away fans were situated for a pre-match huddle. It was a sign of unity after a difficult few days that was lapped up by those in the stands who roared them back into position for kick-off.
Although a win didn’t follow, the Spurs faithful will be heartened by what they witnessed following Harry Kane’s departure to Bayern Munich, namely a team that was proactive rather than reactive. When the players returned to the same pocket of the Community Stadium after full-time, accompanied this time by the coaches, the first chant that greeted them was “Oh, Ange Postecoglou!”
The Australian may not have been many supporters’ first choice to replace Antonio Conte but his popularity is booming after making all the right noises during pre-season. It’s early days, but the founding principles of “Angeball” were imprinted all over Spurs’ first Premier League game.
Spurs were the most passive team in the league under Antonio Conte, ranking bottom of the league in 2022-23 for high turnovers (defined by Opta as the number of times possession is won in open play within 40 metres of the opponent’s goal). The top three for that metric were Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City, suggesting it is a strategy worth trying to emulate.
Pressing is a prerequisite under Postecoglou and Spurs were noticeably more dynamic than at any point last season. There were numerous occasions when all 10 of Spurs’ outfield players were positioned inside Brentford’s own defensive third. James Maddison was a vocal leader of the charge, gesticulating animatedly to his teammates to squeeze up after Yves Bissouma’s ambitious shot directly from kick-off had floated over the bar.
It was a risky tactic considering both of Brentford’s centre forwards Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa can eat up ground quickly, which is perhaps why Postecoglou felt compelled to start the speedy Micky van de Ven straight away. It’s a high-risk meets high-reward strategy that the Australian will expect to yield more goals for than against.
Bissouma and Maddison were the most influential performers for the visitors. It didn’t take long for the club’s new No 10 to make an impact, Maddison’s first assist coming after just 10 minutes courtesy of a venomously struck free-kick that was met by an airborne Cristian Romero. Perhaps the only benefit to losing Kane is that they no longer have to watch him smash free-kicks into the wall.
He set up the second too, smuggling the ball into Emerson Royal’s path to rifle in Spurs’ equaliser just before the break. Maddison created six chances in total, including that pair of assists, which was three times more than any other player on the pitch.
If Maddison is the brain of this team, Bissouma looks set to become its heartbeat. The Malian had more touches (136), completed the most passes (103) and attempted the highest number of dribbles (eight) of any player on the pitch. After a disappointing debut campaign in which he made more substitute appearances than starts in the Premier League, Bissouma showed signs of rediscovering his Brighton form and was deservedly named player of the match.
Intriguingly, Bissouma was mostly accompanied in Tottenham’s engine room, not by Maddison or Oliver Skipp, but by right-back Royal, who shifted across into midfield when Spurs had possession, a tactic popularised by Pep Guardiola in English football. Destiny Udogie, who enjoyed an impressive debut, occupied a much more traditional full-back position on the opposite flank.
There were encouraging performances across the pitch, but Richarlison, the obvious winner from Kane’s move to Bayern Munich, struggled to make much of an impact despite completing 90 minutes in the Premier League for only the second time in his Spurs career.
The Brazilian had two sighters on goal, one from a tight angle that was parried away by Mark Flekken and again in the 90th minute when he fired straight at a Brentford defender when a touch more cuteness was required.
Sign up here to receive The Score newsletter every Monday morning this season for Daniel Storey’s verdict on all 20 Premier League clubs
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/JO9Yofw
Post a Comment