Match date: 30 November 2014

Tottenham and Everton find themselves as part of a group of teams looking to break into the top four and both have had fairly inconsistent seasons so far.

After a successful season at St. Mary’s, Pochettino has been under the spotlight due to Tottenham’s results in the league this season and have suffered from continental hangover due to their participation in the Europa League.

Everton, too, are in the Europa League and like Tottenham, currently top their group. Martinez’s second season at the Merseyside club hasn’t been as excellent as the first, but his philosophy remains true.

Midfield Battle

Pochettino set out Tottenham in a 4-4-2, with Ryan Mason and Nabil Bentaleb as the two centre midfielders, in order to accommodate both Roberto Soldado and Harry Kane. Christian Eriksen was forced to play in a wide left position, but notably drifted infield as Tottenham tried to compete with Everton in the central midfield zone. Unfortunately for Spurs, Roberto Martinez and Everton set up in a 4-2-3-1, with Besic and Barry as the two holding players and Samuel Eto’o, typically a striker, in front of them. On paper, Everton had the numbers up and so Pochettino instructed Eriksen to drift infield, as mentioned above, but it was not enough for Spurs as Barkley also drifted in and essentially gave Everton four central midfielders for the majority of the match. Below, you can see a good example of Everton’s central overload of Barry, Besic, Eto’o, and Barkley and an example of their shape. Barry was usually deepest, with one of Eto’o or Barkley as a shuttler with Besic, and then the other would be further up field.

Each Everton midfielder played a part. Barry, arguably the weak player in the midfield, was often too slow in possession and his lack of mobility meant that Besic had to go a lot of the defensive work. On the first goal, Barry found himself in between Mason and Kane when Mason was on the ball. Barry was too slow to put pressure on Mason and failed to recover to put pressure on Kane. His lack of defensive presence was certainly a frustration for Everton and allowed Tottenham to counter well throughout the match, not to mention he lost the ball in the lead up to Tottenham’s second goal.

Besic showed a lot of energy throughout the match. He was sometimes the furthest forward when pressing and covered the space on the right that Barkley drifted from. Tottenham would have had more opportunities on the break had it not been for Besic, as he had to cover for Barry’s lack of mobility and recovery speed. Going forward, he broke the lines well on the dribble, evading Tottenham’s pressing, and was able to create space for Barkley and Eto’o with his forward runs.

Further up the field, Eto’o had a very good game for Everton during this time on the pitch. He moved the ball well and sat nicely in the hole for Everton when they had good possession of the ball in the attacking third. He and Barkley rotated well through the centre and one would often use the space on the right. When Barkley was inside, regardless of Eto’o’s positioning, he was at his best. The young Englishman, who uses the sole of his foot exceptionally well, was very bright and creative. He was able to get past Spurs’ players easily on the dribble and was unlucky on one of his runs not to play Eto’o in for an easy goal and set up Coleman for another excellent chance, only for Lloris to make a good save.

Tottenham Press

Prior to Tottenham’s goal, Everton were able to control much of the match though the four players mentioned above. They moved the ball with relative ease, were able to get by lackluster Tottenham pressing in midfield, and were able to possess the ball for an extended amount of time in the attacking third. Following the first goal, however, they looked to have gained confidence. Immediately their pressing was much more effective and looked more like what Pochettino expects and produce during his time at Southampton. Both Mason and Bentaleb showed excellent energy, putting pressure on Barry and Besic and allowing Kane and Soldado to press to Distin and Jagielka.

Barry, in particular, was pressed well by Mason and Bentaleb. It seemed that Barry’s receiving of the ball was a pressing trigger for the Tottenham midfield and it was likely because of his slow play throughout the match. The pressing of Barry worked for Tottenham as Kane was able to dispossess Barry with a good tackle from behind to win the ball back for Tottenham and launch a break for Aaron Lennon, leading to Tottenham’s go-ahead goal.

Coleman v Davies

One of the disappointments of the initial line ups was that the games more creative players, Eriksen and Barkley, were going to have to play in wider roles. Obviously, this ended up not being the case, as both Eriksen and Barkley spent much of the match in the central areas of the pitch. What their absence from that side did do, however, was set up an interesting battle between Seamus Coleman and Ben Davies, which could have been the deciding 1v1 battle in the match.

Everton should have excelled down the right side through Coleman. He is one of the best attacking backs in the league and with Lukaku as a target in the middle, Everton could have certainly looked to get the ball wide from the congested middle, into a 1v1 situation, and move the defense to again open space in the central areas. With Coleman in that 1v1, Everton would have hoped for more productivity and for the right back to be able to deliver crosses into the box for Lukaku to attack. However, Davies was defended Coleman well throughout the match, limiting his influence and attacking play.

Conclusion

A game that could have been won by Everton had they used their dominance in the opening stages to create more chances. Mirallas put them up 1-0 with a fantastic finish, but much of their play was in front of a well organised Tottenham back four. Martinez allowed for a more open game when he replaced Eto’o with Osman and Mirallas with McGeady as the midfield battle was now no longer in Everton’s clear favour.

Tottenham looked much better than they have in recent weeks and Pochettino’s reactions on both goals show the relief that the Argentine felt in each goal. His vision, mainly seen through Tottenham’s pressing on the day, might finally be taking hold at White Hart Lane. Eriksen and Kane had excellent games for Spurs as the back four looked to be much more comfortable.