Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Chelsea: Tactical analysis of a game of two halves

Gylfi Sigurdsson

The battle between two of the more tactically astute managers was expected to be a cagey affair in midfield and to be decided by reactive substitutions by both the managers, but the final score-line of 1-1 doesn’t reflect perfectly on the high tempo game at White Hart Lane.

Ramires’s late inclusion was the only surprise in the team-sheets as much of the pre-match hype was about the battle between No.10s Erikson and Oscar, the latter’s inclusion ahead of Mata again bringing grunts from the Chelsea fans.

Though both teams were playing in the same shape of 4-2-3-1, there was a vast difference in the manner of attacks of both teams.

Tottenham were the much brighter of the two sides in the first half, and much of their attacks were centered on Eriksen. Right from the start, Spurs pressed with the 2 men upfront: Soldado and Eriksen.

But rather than pressurizing the at times erroneous Mikel in midfield, the Spurs duo was more intent on closing down the space for Luiz and Terry to launch upfront. This resulted in Mikel and Lampard receiving the ball in loads of space, and though Paulinho’s energetic runs through the middle caused Mikel a few problems, Lampard was more or else allowed to distribute easily due to Dembele staying deep in his half.

It was Paulinho who was causing Chelsea’s midfield all the problems, as the Brazilain box to box player has added a highly dynamic look to AVB’s team.

With Tottenham’s defenders and Dembele doing an apt job in the distribution to fullbacks, Paulinho was able to make all the attacking runs forward and link with Townsend and Sigurdsson. Again, it was Mikel who was responsible to cover the Brazilian, but the Chelsea man let him come into the box unmarked on a number of occasions.

The other dimension of Spurs’ attack was the contrasting style of wing play in the team. Neither of the two wingers, Townsend or Sigurdsson, nor the fullbacks Walker and Naughton, were able to attempt a single cross into the box.

Rather, Townsend on the right was encouraged to attack Cole and cut onto his left foot repeatedly. While that has been the feature of the young Englishman’s game so far, it was Gylfi Sigurdsson’s style on the right which proved fruitful.

With Ramires playing high up on the right, Gylfi had to provide ample support to the makeshift left back, Naughton against a marauding Ivanovic.

But while Spurs were on the ball, rather than running down the fullback, Gylfi drifted into the centre to allow Eriksen space to operate. In fact, Gylfi’s deep positioning on the left wing often pulled out Ivanovic to mark him, and again similar to the Norwich game, the Icelandic midfielder was able to rush past the now pulled out right back to finish off the good work done by Eriksen and Soldado.

Though the feature of the move was Eriksen between the lines picking out Soldado with a ball that deliberately was played a bit behind the striker, but Gylfi’s tactic is exactly how a solid right back can be disposed by an unorthodox winger.

Chelsea’s first half was rather subdued and spent more in damage control. Oscar was again seen covering large distances and coming up with key tackles, but his final ball to either Torres or Ramires was lacking the bite. Hazard looked the liveliest Blue in the first half, but Walker’s surprisingly stubborn show and Townsend’s fantastic runs on the same flank saw the Belgian much more ineffective than usual.

Jose’s call to bring out Mata at the start of the second half brought out jeers that the ‘Special One’ had finally swallowed his pride. But from Spurs’ display in the first half, Mourinho’s call regarding Mata seemed a tactic to strengthen the defensive marking in certain positions rather than the need for creativity.

Townsend’s runs needed to be tamed on the left and at the same time, Hazard needed to be brought into the game. So Jose moved his most disciplined attacker Oscar away from the preferred No.10 into a role in front of Cole on the left.

Also, Mikel’s inability to deal with the onrushing Paulinho, in fact pretty much a big match syndrome with the Nigerian, made Jose push Ramires to the centre instead. This change saw Mata start on the right with Hazard now through the centre.