Friendly game: Watford-Tottenham at Vicarage RoadThe characteristics of André Villas-Boas’s 4-2-3-1 are similar to his 4-3-3 system at Chelsea, but much work remains to make it equally functional.?
Friendly matches may rarely indicate true form, but this bleak and lacklustre display will reassure no one over the Villas-Boas project, particularly with Thursday’s game away to Valencia the only remaining fixture before the Premiership kicks off.
Here, albeit with a reduced squad, Tottenham were slow and uninspiring. There were indications of certain tactical patterns but little action to examine their efficiency. The passing tempo was slow, the concentration poor and few attacking scenarios were constructed. Still, there were some hints of what to expect from Villas-Boas’s side this season.
Build-up play
The ambitiousness of Villas-Boas’s favoured system appears unchanged. The wide players stretch the pitch as much as possible while the full-backs push extremely high up the pitch. In possession, the slow tempo remains, indicating a trust in individual creativity that borders to that of Barcelona. That didn’t work here, with Jermaine Jenas and Jake Livermore unable to play the attackers into good positions, causing a staleness to the build-up play. Attacking midfielder Tom Carroll, a youth academy product, was also easily snuffed out centrally, meaning the few half-decent moves came through Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon out wide.
The first half: Tottenham's movement in possessionWhile most passes were short and simple, there would occasionally be long passes lofted forward, particularly towards the flanks. This looked very simplistic – Lennon or Bale would simply start a run in behind Watford’s defence and a centre-back would play it long – as opposed to a more sophisticated movement involving several players. This may have been an option reluctantly resorted to since the central midfield wasn’t good enough to outpass or outwit Watford.
A notable if unsurprising feat was the fluidity of Tottenham’s midfield. When the centre-backs were in possession, the midfield triangle constantly moved and shifted its shape to provide options (though few were taken). Livermore and Jenas could suddenly move high up towards Defoe while Carroll dropped down towards the centre-backs, making it a 4-3-3.
The same occurred in the second half with the introduction of Gylfi Siguresson, albeit less so as Villas-Boas wanted the Iceland international closer to goal. Still, in terms of how Villas-Boas structures his side, the switch from 4-3-3 (as used at Porto and Chelsea) to 4-2-3-1 indicates a minimal change.
Defending
While Tottenham did little with the ball, they pressed relentlessly and aggressively when they lost it – another common Villas-Boas feat. The full-backs could close down deep into Watford’s half, while both holding midfielders occasionally pushed forward to pressure Watford’s central midfielders when they dropped deep to receive the ball. The much-criticised defensive line remained high, although with few problems here due to the superior athleticism of Younès Kaboul and William Gallas.
Bale and the Hulk role
Since Tottenham’s central line was largely a makeshift one, the game’s most interesting part centred on Bale and Lennon’s movement. Both stayed wide early on, leaving Carroll and Defoe too isolated centrally, though this changed when the two wingers swapped positions. While Lennon remained wide out left, Bale would drift in centrally according to the space behind Watford’s defensive line. If Watford pushed up, Bale would stay close to Defoe, looking to break in behind the centre-back. When Tottenham were in the final third he would stay wide, looking for a pass into feet to take on the left-back. There was also a mixture of the two movements where, instead of breaking in behind the defence, Bale would pick up the ball deep and relatively wide before running at Watford’s central defence – as he did successfully on occasions last year. The hosts were too organised here however, and Bale was missing an attacking midfielder to drag players out wide to get sufficient space – à la what Mesut ?zil does so well at Real Madrid.
Bale: 1) Stays wide to take on the full-back 2) Drifts centrally to fool the offside trap 3) Wanders inside to run at the centre-backs (click for larger image)Overall though, Bale’s position on the right was Tottenham’s most unpredictable element. Interestingly, this position has been a key feature at Villas-Boas’s previous clubs, often combined with an attacking right-back and a central midfielder making constant runs. Players thrive in it too – Hulk at Porto and Daniel Sturridge at Chelsea – and both are left-footed attackers with an eye for goal. Bale has over the last years developed into that kind of player, and it will be interesting to see on what side Villas-Boas plays him. Outside wingers is uncommon of the Portuguese, and would make even less sense if Tottenham failed to sign Emmanuel Adebayor or an alternative aerial threat.
Second half
Tottenham upped the tempo after the break and improved immediately. The passing was quicker, enabling the defenders to find midfielders between the lines before Watford had time to condense space. Siguresson came on but did little, though it was notable that he rarely ventured into the box for crosses, instead lurking outside it to pick up loose balls for long shots and finishes. His appearance also meant Bale and Lennon switched back to their original positions, a wise move considering Siguresson’s tendency to stay centrally as opposed to drifting wide. The goal came from a Defoe header on 55 minutes from Kyle Walker’s cross, the right-back having replaced Kyle Naughton at half-time.
Still naive?
In short, this match confirmed that Villas-Boas is sticking to his original system despite the slight change in formation – a switch made simply to accommodate the players inherited. The attacking variations were few and disappointing, though this may be linked with the absence of first-team players. Most of Tottenham’s players played poorly – Kaboul and Bale in particular, with Bale creating virtually nothing despite a series of attempts – and looked some distance away from being ready for Premiership action.
The real question is whether Villas-Boas will persist with this ambitious system against stronger teams – particularly away from home – as he did, somewhat naively, at Chelsea. Tottenham’s pre-season fixtures have so far been too easy to give us an answer, though perhaps more clues will be offered away to Valencia on Thursday.
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