Tottenham’s perfect start to the new campaign was put to a different sort of test last weekend as Birmingham sat back and defended with a stubbornness that Harry’s boys had yet to encounter this season.

With Jermain Defoe and Robbie Keane firmly installed as the main front two and currently banging in the goals, Peter Crouch must have been wondering if he’d made the right move heading back to White Hart Lane. Saturday, however, saw Luka Modric’s withdrawal after 49mins not only give the big man some minutes on the pitch, it enabled Redknapp’s Plan B to spring into action, illustrating the strength-in-depth at the manager’s disposal.

As Modric’s injury is now confirmed as a broken leg, Spurs tactics will undoubtedly alter in his absence. The little playmaker is an integral part of Harry’s Plan A tactics (indeed it’s possible to argue the team’s shape is built to accommodate him) and these chalkboards give an indication of what changes could occur with him on the sidelines by looking at Spurs’ play before and after his withdrawal at the weekend, in conjunction with the alternatives afforded by Crouch:

Plan A versus Plan B- Main Changes

Overall Team Passing

Given Peter Crouch’s aerial ability, it’s fairly obvious that upon his introduction, Spurs would concentrate more on balls into the box, as this first chalkboard illustrates. Having spent the first 49mins dominating play, Tottenham had nothing to show for their endeavours as Alex McLeish’s spoiling tactics posed problems they were unable to solve.

The big fella’s introduction saw Spurs drop so much of their intricate passing game in the middle of the park, and instead concentrate on delivering balls deep into the penalty area for the 6 foot 7 centre forward, a ploy which eventually reaped reward.

However, it wasn’t just as crass a tactic as hitting high balls in nothing more than vain hope; certain individual roles within the system had to change with the Crouch/Modric swap. Here‘s a look at the main role-differences, in terms of team shape:

Left Wing (Robbie Keane/Niko Krancjar)

This second chalkboard compares Luka Modric’s role on the left of midfield with Robbie Keane’s, when the Irishman was moved out to the wing to allow Crouch to partner Jermain Defoe upfront. With Harry’s more interchangeable and fluid Plan A, Modric tends to move inside, linking play mainly from the middle of the park. In Plan B, however, Keane operated much more like a traditional left winger, providing more width and attacking depth than the Croatian playmaker.

Harry’s move for Niko Kranjcar from Portsmouth this afternoon-with Jamie O’Hara going the other way on loan- suggests that Redknapp has the appropriate cover in left midfield, though this next chalkboard, showing Krancjar’s passing and shots on goal in his last Portsmouth home game under his new gaffer, suggests his role will be more similar to Keane’s on Saturday than that of Modric. His 6 shots at goal in a team far less threatening than Spurs suggest Krancjar – at 6.9 in FPL- could be one worth keeping an eye on.

Benoit Assou Ekotto

Whereas Modric drifting inside allows Assou Ekotto to provide the width down the left from his full back position, Keane played much further ahead of the Cameroonian, meaning there was almost no interaction between the two. This chalkboard shows Assou Ekotto saw much less of the ball (making 16 passes in the final 41 mins compared to 45 passes in the opening 49 mins), and very rarely made headways in the Birmingham half, the mirror opposite of his role when working in tandem with Modric. When in possesson, his passes tended to be much longer and, resultantly, less accurate.

Aaron Lennon

Conventional wisdom would suggest that with Crouch on the pitch, a nippy little right winger like Lennon would be told to hug the touchline and fire in cross after cross in the big man’s direction, but this chalkboard contradicts such thinking. Perhaps a knock-on effect from the afore-mentioned left hand side changes, Lennon actually ventured infield and closer to the Birmingham goal far more often after Crouch’s introduction, a fact illustrated by his last-ditch winner.

At 7.7m, and with Modric out for the foreseeable future, Lennon’s form certainly suggests he will continue to add to his already-impressive points tally, and with Spurs fixtures looking kind from Game 7 onwards, he looks like being their main midfield man for some time to come.

Jermain Defoe with Crouch

The introduction of Peter Crouch made no difference to Jermain Defoe’s perfomance; he had 1 shot at goal before the big man’s arrival, and as this final chalkboard, another 1 attempt on goal compared to Crouch’s 4 when they played together.

FPL managers who went Jermain-mad (up to 8.9 already!) should note that, currently, he tends to be better value away from home. He has managed a mere 2 shots at goal in both home games so far, whereas when the team are on their travels and he has more space too play in, Defoe managed 8 attempts at Hull and 4 against his old club, West Ham.

Crouch, also, is one for the watchlist. At 7.2, and with Spurs possibly playing with a more traditional approach in Luka’s absence, it’s all down to whether Harry sees him as a starter, or someone to fall back on when the going gets tough.