Thoughts on Mourinho’s Spurs

In this article I will add my observations to the excellent Scout Notes on Tottenham’s win at West Ham and share my thoughts on Jose Mourinho’s tactics. 

Edit: Notes on Spurs v Olympiakos have been added.

Duff, Robben and Deco

During Mourinho’s first period in charge of Chelsea, I remember looking on enviously as Damien Duff and Arjen Robben would terrorise opposition defences.

Chelsea played with an attacking verve that we no longer associate with the Portuguese. In a period of nine Premier League matches between 23 October and 18 December 2004 the Blues scored four goals on six separate occasions.

So I was really excited to see both Son and Moura start for Spurs and their performances did not disappoint. 

They played around a number ten in Dele Alli who displayed sublime passing skills. Both Son and Moura were bursting into the box for Tottenham’s first goal, created by a lovely slide-rule pass from the inspired Alli.

People have spoken about how Alli will be the new Frank Lampard but to my eye his exquisite passing is more reminiscent of Deco during Mourinho’s tenure at Porto. If you would like a reminder, check out Deco’s superb footwork and perfectly-weighted pass for Porto’s second goal against Celtic in the 2003 UEFA Cup final. 

Players looking to feed off Alli was in evidence throughout the match. Twice in the opening 10 minutes the offside flag was raised against Kane after he was played in by Alli. And in the 33rd minute both Son and Kane sprinted into the area looking for a return ball from the former MK Dons starlet. 

Early in the second half, Son and Moura continued to slice through the West Ham defence. The pair led a quick break in the 48th minute and, before Tottenham’s third goal, both players made runs towards the box when Alli received possession. The ball was then worked wide for Aurier to cross for Kane to score.

Aurier the advanced full-back

Mourinho, since his time at Porto, encourages one full-back to get forward while the other sits deep to ensure his side is protected defensively. 

As we might have guessed from the team selection with Ben Davies chosen ahead of the more cavalier Danny Rose, it was Serge Aurier given the task of attacking down the right.

There were times when Aurier occupied a position on the right-wing creating an overload in the middle as the wide player came inside. And there were examples around the 26th and 30th minutes when Ben Davies could be seen in a back three alongside Toby Alderweireld and Davinson Sánchez.

For members I’ve included their heatmaps below:

Son and Moura switch

One interesting passage of play took place between the 16th and 26th minutes, when Son and Moura switched flanks.

This followed a tactical change in midfield by Pellegrini with Noble dropping back alongside Rice to stop Dele Alli picking up the ball and creating chances. 

With Moura on the left and Serge Aurier pushing up to the right wing, Son moved centrally alongside Alli. This led to Son’s shot from distance in the 20th minute. 

It makes me wonder if this might be a tactic used in home matches when Spurs face teams who get numbers behind the ball and defend deep. Son’s usefulness in different attacking set-ups, both cutting into the box from the wing and shooting from distance, makes him a very appealing asset to own.

Goal kicks

It was notable that instead of playing the ball out from the back, Gazzaniga frequently kicked the ball long. He directly created a chance for Kane in the 60th minute. Could this lead to more opportunities in upcoming matches?

Recommendations

Son – Buy now. He looks dangerous when cutting in from the wing, on the break, and from a central area. He will get goals and assists.

Alli – Wait and see. From a footballing point of view he was outstanding. From an FPL point of view he’s likely to get a few assists but he barely got into the box – only two shots and both from distance. So perhaps not the same goal threat Frank Lampard once offered. This may change in upcoming matches of course.

Kane – Wait and see. The stats show two shots but that won’t include his two offside chances early on. Started encouragingly high-up the pitch but still dropped deep to link up play, with Son and Moura often running beyond him. Very interested to see his position against Bournemouth.

Moura – Tempting. His price point is a tantalising £7.0m. Son is the better player and will get more points in FPL but for £2.7m less, Moura could offer good value if Mourinho sticks with this formation. 

Aurier – Buy now. An attractive price point of £4.8m and an attacking role in the team. Spurs should improve defensively and pick up some clean sheets. Even though they conceded two goals on the weekend Aurier still collected two bonus points (perhaps Applebonkers can explain what he does so well to earn bonus points?). Again, this is only week one under Mourinho so things may change.

Chelsea’s attack – Buy now. West Ham are awful and Diop is suspended.

Question Marks

Where does Eriksen fit into this formation? He came on for Alli against the Hammers, but Alli looks much more suited to that number ten role. So even if Eriksen does decide to stay at Spurs, where does he play in this team? Perhaps a tactical tweak could see him replace Moura in the starting line-up. And what about Lo Celso and Lamela? It would seem unwise to write them off after one match. 

I would be interested to hear your thoughts on Mourinho at Spurs. And if any Chelsea or Man United fans can offer insights on the tactics he used at your clubs, that would be appreciated.

Spurs v Olympiakos

Serge Aurier impressed again in attack. He frequently occupied a position on the right wing supplying crosses and driving into the box.

As early as the 9th minute – and Spurs were already a goal down at this point – Eric Dier dropped into a centre-back position alongside Toby Alderweireld with Davinson Sánchez moving across to right-back. So not only was Aurier on the right wing but he had defensive cover behind him. 

It was also notable that Danny Rose remained in the left-back position – he did not charge upfield. At times he even formed a back three with the centre-halves, as Davies had on the weekend. So that Mourinho tactic I mentioned of one full-back attacking and one defending was in evidence once more.

Aurier crossed the ball four times last night and picked up an assist for Tottenham’s first goal scored by Dele Alli. He made runs into the box in the 29th and 34th minutes, and it was his presence in the opposition penalty area that allowed him to score Spurs’s third goal in the 73rd minute. 

Dele Alli was a more threatening attacking force than he had been against West Ham. He was excellent against the Hammers but he wasn’t getting into the penalty box. That changed against Olympiakos.

His goal was scored inside the six-yard box and he demonstrated neat footwork in the area before crossing for Aurier’s goal. It would have been an assist but for the slightest of touches from Heung-min Son. 

The difference was Christian Eriksen. The Dane came on for Dier in the 29th minute and changed the dynamic of the Spurs attacks.

He took up an inside right midfield position with Aurier often further up the pitch. In the 34th minute it was Eriksen who tried to thread the ball through to Aurier running into the box. Moments later, from a similar position, he was crossing towards Kane who was making a darting run towards the penalty spot. 

Including corners and free-kicks Eriksen made nine crosses for Spurs last night.

His introduction was good news for Harry Kane and Dele Alli, and perhaps not such good news for Heung-min Son and Lucas Moura. With the Olympiakos midfield sitting a little deeper there was less space for Alli to operate in front of the defence. A position he was so effective in at the weekend, playing incisive passes to Son and Moura running into the box.

With Alli playing more as a second striker alongside Kane, Son was generally taking a wider position when he did go into the penalty area. Although this wasn’t exclusively true: in the second half there were examples of Son moving centrally when Alli or Kane pulled wide. For instance, Kane crossed towards Son in the six-yard box in the 64th minute.

Directness

There was an encouraging directness to Tottenham’s play. I mentioned in my notes above about Gazzaniga’s goal kicks – going long rather than playing out from the back – and the long ball was in evidence again last night.

It was a kick upfield from Gazzaniga that lead to Kane’s goal in the 50th minute. Toby Alderweireld was also looking to play passes out from the back – in the opening minutes he tried to find Son coming in from the left up against their right centre-back and he sprayed the ball wide to Aurier in the right-wing position.  

While the risk of losing possession is higher it also gives defences less time to set themselves. If the Spurs player can win the ball in these situations it will create good attacking opportunities, with defenders forced to turn and face their own goal. So from an FPL point of view this is good news for all Spurs attacking assets.

Horses for courses

Already we’ve seen different tactical approaches and tweaks in personnel employed by Mourinho depending on the opposition and match situation. 

In terms of FPL the signs are encouraging for a number of Spurs attackers – Son, Kane, Alli, and Moura – plus in defence one player who I think offers tremendous value at £4.9m is Serge Aurier.