Match date: 26 September 2015

Tottenham have had some good performances so far this season despite their points tally while Manchester City had started the season with five wins in five games, but lost against West Ham United last time out.

Mauricio Pochettino named a young starting XI with just four players over the age of 24. Dele Alli started as one of the two holding midfielders with Eric Dier beside him in a 4-2-3-1, though their shape changed to a 4-1-4-1 situationally.

Manuel Pellegrini stayed with a 4-2-3-1, but was unable to start Joe Hart or Vincent Kompany. Fernando got a start in midfield next to Fernandinho, with Yaya Toure in front of them and Kevin De Bruyne on the right.

Manchester City Start Well, Tottenham Press

Manchester City were the better team in the opening 30 minutes of the match and were right to be ahead through Kevin De Bruyne’s goal. Interestingly enough, that goal came from a quick counter attack by the away side. They moved the ball well in what was a fairly open match and for all the openness that was in the match, Fernandinho was able to help dictate the game for the City. A lot of their best play came down the right side of the pitch through Sagna and De Bruyne as Ben Davies was left in 2v1 situations a few times due to Christian Eriksen keeping a high position.

Obviously Fernandinho’s passing statistic is not one you would expect to see with a team that is controlling a match, but that is a testament to just how open the match had been. The holding midfielder was able to fine a good amount of space when he got on the ball as Tottenham’s attacking quartet was pressing high, but with Spurs back four and holding midfielders a bit too deep, there was too much space behind the initial press that allowed Manchester City to play out of the back rather easily. The image below shows the good and the bad of Tottenham’s press. Ultimately, Manchester City are forced back to Caballero who plays the ball long, which is what Tottenham wanted as Sterling, De Bruyne, and Agüero were unable to win aerial battles against Tottenham’s back four. The bad part of this press, however, is how disjointed it is. Kane does a good job cutting the field in half, but had Fernandinho or Yaya Toure been quicker to fill the space noted, then Manchester City would have been able to play pass Tottenham’s first line of pressure rather easily.

Tottenham’s press got better and they began to force Manchester City into those long balls more and more, allowing Spurs to win the ball back most of the time. So while the pressing of Eriksen, Son, Lamela, and Kane wasn’t winning the ball high up the pitch, they disrupted Manchester City’s play, forced them to play long, and got the ball back in deeper positions, which allowed Spurs to build.

Tottenham’s Shape

Pochettino’s teams typically play in a 4-2-3-1, with two holding midfielders that are fairly disciplined. At Southampton, the Argentine had Wanyama and Schneiderlin, both of whom were key to how Southampton played. At Tottenham, with the starting XI against Manchester City, Pochettino had much more fluidity in those two holding positions. Eric Dier has said in the past that he sees his future as a centre back, but has done very well in a holding role so far this season. Alongside Dier was Dele Alli, who’s flexibility helped Tottenham when they were in possession.

Both did well defensively; Alli attempted and won seven tackles in the match, while Dier did well covering and in that 4-2-3-1 shape, they did as expected. However, when Tottenham had the ball, they looked more like a 4-1-4-1 at times because of Alli’s flexibility. It was situational, typically when Tottenham had possession at the back and were looking to build. Alli looked to move out of that deep, central space to give Dier the ability to get on the ball while there was no real worry to overload that area of the pitch as Yaya Toure’s defensive work rate was lacking. With Dier free to get on the ball, it allowed Alli to push on and get on the ball in higher areas of the pitch, while also allowing the fluidity of Eriksen, Lamela, and Son to flow, with the knowledge that the central areas would be covered in any transitions.

Again, this was situational and there were times when Dier and Alli were both deep when Spurs had possession, but when Alli did push forward, Tottenham looked at their best. By occupying one of Fernandinho and Fernando, it allowed the likes of Kane and Son to move into that area of the pitch without a marker and that allowed Tottenham to play some good looking football in Manchester City’s half, although none of their goals were the result of their sometimes excellent possession.

Tottenham’s Attacking Quartet

Tottenham’s overall team performance was excellent and it is hard to choose one player that stood out above the rest, but the collective performance of the front four should be one that gives Spurs supporters a positive view going forward. There are different combinations that work incredibly well and supplement one another fantastically.

Harry Kane consistently dropped into midfield when Tottenham had the ball and was typically followed by Otamendi or Demichelis, both of whom wanted to be touch tight to the forward all night, into that area of the pitch. Kane also moved out wide, again dragging the Manchester City centre backs with him into those areas of the pitch, which again opened up space in the central areas of the pitch. Last year, however, Tottenham lacked a player that would run into that space, but with Son, they now have a player who makes those direct runs without the ball at his feet. Son started the match in the hole behind Kane for this reason, but was moved to the left in the second half as his work rate was needed to help keep Sagna from getting forward. There were a number of times when Son looked to run in behind Kane, but he was rarely picked out. Nonetheless, the two compliment one another very well; Kane likes to drop into midfield to get involved in build up play and Son wants to run behind into space.

Eriksen and Lamela offer different qualities as well. Eriksen was welcomed back into the side after his injury and with his inclusion in the side, there was guile and creativity in the Spurs side that they were otherwise lacking. The intricate play of the Dane was the catalyst for some excellent one touch play by Spurs around the Manchester City penalty area, while Lamela’s directness with the ball, especially against Kolarov, helped open up the Manchester City back line.

Changes

It was odd to see Pellegrini start the match with Yaya Toure behind Agüero, forcing De Bruyne out wide, considering that Manchester City’s best performances this season have been when David Silva was played behind Agüero with Sterling and Navas in the wide areas. With pace and real width out wide, space opens up for Silva to operate and drift around in, which could have meant the same for De Bruyne had Pellegrini lined up differently. Instead, Yaya Toure was played through the middle and that allowed Alli to get forward, which opened up space for Tottenham. Unsurprisingly, Yaya Toure was taken off for Navas with Pellegrini’s first change. The Spaniard gave Manchester City that directness on the right that had been taking and, though his decision making it woeful at times, Navas put in a few dangerous balls and forced Lloris into a save.

After that change, Spurs scored to make it 3-1, which meant Pellegrini and Manchester City really had to chase the game. With that in mind, Pochettino knew space was going to open up and so he brought on Clinton N’Jie, who was able to exploit the space left by Manchester City as they pushed numbers forward and eventually setup Lamela for Tottenham’s fourth goal.

Conclusion

One could blame the assistant referees for some poor decisions that lead to goals and there was nothing truly tactically spectacular about the match, but it was certainly a positive result for Tottenham and should the supporters a sense of what Pochettino’s side can become if they continue to develop.

Manchester City looked fine for much of the match, although they were a bit naive and slow as the match went on. Pellegrini will be hoping for a much better performance in the midweek Champions League match against Borussia Monchengladbacj.