mourinho – Jaikan Sport

On Spurs: In awe of the sublime wizardry of Tanguy Ndombele

As an adult, being a sports fan can be an exercise in tedium and dross. Most of the time we devote to watching sports can seem mundane and rather unordinary. Yet, the reason we tune in regularly is that every so often, we are reminded of why we fell in love with sports in the first place. It can come through a fleeting moment that makes us feel something bigger than ourselves, or can arise through an action of incomprehensible genius.

For Tottenham Hotspur, recent matches have largely been tedious affairs, as manager Jose Mourinho has siphoned off the free flowing football that has long been the trademark of the club, and has replaced it with a more conservative and tepid version. Too often, Spurs look unimaginative, as they concede possession and rely on their brilliant duo of Harry Kane and Son Heung-min to exploit their opponents on the counterattack.

This stark conversion would be altogether tolerable if Spurs were consistently achieving positive results, yet that remains a contentious claim of late. While Spurs now sit fifth in the Premier League table after 18 matches, and only four points behind leaders Manchester United (who Spurs smashed 6-1 at Old Trafford mere months ago), Mourinho’s side that is now purportedly embedded with his “winning mentality” has bled away leads against inferior opposition five times this season after 70 minutes (most recently, last week at home to bottom feeders Fulham) and have lost 10 points from winning positions.

And yet, in the midst of this negative football, there remains many flickers of inspiration that make the entire watching experience somehow worth it. The brilliance of both Kane and Son individually, and as a combination, have been espoused on these pages before. But week in, week out, the other player that grabs your attention and replenishes your joy for sport is the dazzling French midfielder, Tanguy Ndombele.

Ndombele arrived at Spurs in the summer of 2019 as the club’s most expensive transfer (£55 million from Lyon), and spent much of last season trying to acclimate to the physicality and pace of the Premier League, amidst the tumult of a significant managerial shift and a three month lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.

After a positive start in which Ndombele scored in the opening match against Aston Villa, the season progressively turned into a nightmare. Dealing with a string of hamstring and groin injuries, Ndombele completed 90 minutes for Mauricio Pochettino only four times before he was sacked in November.

Under Mourinho, Ndombele could never fully settle last season. After playing 90 minutes against Norwich at the end of December, he became an increasingly peripheral figure at the club. In the brief appearances he did make, he appeared portly and woefully out of shape (by Premier League standards of course), huffing and puffing after a few sprints, and unable to provide the defensive contributions that Mourinho seeks from his midfield players. Ignominiously, Ndombele was subbed off at half time against Norwich, in Spurs’ final domestic match before the coronavirus lockdown. He appeared lost and his transfer was widely panned as being a flop.

After football returned in June, there were rumours of a training ground dust up between manager and player, and genuine questions were raised in regards to whether Spurs were ready to move on from their record signing. Paris St. Germain and even Barcelona were reported to be interested in taking him on.

Fast forward to 2021, and here we are, the entire situation has turned. Ndombele has become an indispensable figure in Spurs’ attack, has taken on the mantle as the creative engine, and has left fans agog over the array of skills he has to offer.

The Frenchmen has an almost childlike bliss to his game, as he confidently flits around with the ball. It appears almost tied to his feet as he bamboozles opposition defenders, and launches his teammates into attacks with cheeky flicks with the outside of his boot. His complete control of the ball, his ability to juke and turn with it, gives me the picture of a young Tanguy, with the ball at his feet as he emerges from his bed, eats breakfast, walks to school, sits at his desk and goes about his day. Plain and simple, he is a wizard with the ball, and watching him provides us with moments every match that we simply thought were not possible.

One such moment came in yesterday’s Premier League match at Bramall Lane against Sheffield United.

Video should start with the Bergwijn/Ndombele interchange. If it does not, skip to 2:29.

Along with Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, Ndombele helped Spurs control the midfield battle for the first hour. At the 62 minute mark, he played a quick 1-2 with Stephen Bergwijn, and launched into the Sheffield United box. Taking the pass, slightly behind him, and with two defenders marking him out, Ndombele adjusted his body, fell back and hit an audacious chip with the outside of his right foot. The ball sailed over a helpless Aaron Ramsdale, and helped seal Spurs’ 3-1 victory.

The goal was quite simply, stunning. It was the best goal of Spurs’ season, and one of the best goals of the Premier League season. It was also wholly exemplar of the skill, panache and boldness that Ndombele demonstrates on a weekly basis.

Ndombele has rededicated himself at Spurs this season. He appears much leaner, more spritely and committed to the work that Mourinho demands, even contributing in the defensive phase, late in matches. His dedication has been rewarded as he has started 14 of Spurs’ 18 Premier League matches this season. Against Sheffield United, he completed the full match for the first time since that match against Norwich in December 2019.

Watching football every week can remain tiresome and feel perfunctory, and on many such occasions, you truly wish you did just about anything else to fill those two hours. Yet, the true artists like Tanguy Ndombele ensure that you tune in every week, because he is able to share some of that joy that he plays with and reminds you that football can indeed be fun and worthwhile.

Jaideep Kanungo

On Spurs: Realism sets in as Spurs drop points

Truly for the past week, everyone at Tottenham had every reason to hold their heads up high. Spurs were top of the Premier League, powered by the league’s top goal scorer (Son), playmaker (Kane) and best defense, and had just come off resoundingly humiliating their North London neighbours.

Yet despite the positive feelings and overall good vibes, the week also brought along some genuine buzz kill moments, as manager Jose Mourinho attempts to guide Spurs to their first English top division title since 1961.

Firstly, The Athletic‘s doyen of tactics, Michael Cox, highlighted that Tottenham are currently outperforming their expected xG numbers and that a regression is to be expected. He writes (prior to this past weekend’s match at Palace) that Spurs had scored 23 goals, although their xG would expect 17 goals. Defensively, Spurs would have been expected to concede 12 goals, compared to the 9 goals that they actually conceded. Their defense would be 5th in the league in the xG table, rather than the best in the league as it stood. Most astonishingly, Son Heung-min was highlighted as significantly overperforming his xG. The South Korean has scored 10 in real life, when his expected goals was only 3.5. Surely, Cox and other football data-heads insist that Spurs simply cannot maintain this “mirage.”

Additionally, some football pundits such as the eminently forgettable ex Spurs’ midfielder Jamie Redknapp, and the classic “good football man”-cum-curmudgeon, Graeme Souness, commented that many of Spurs’ attacking players must be down on playing such a negative style of football. Interestingly, Spurs teams of the past had been criticized for playing an attractive attacking football, as compared to their rivals, but they lacked a general defensive solidity and winning nous that would make them legitimate title threats (is this not what critics panned Mauricio Pochettino for?). This manifested in a series of soul-crushing losses on some of biggest stages. Finally, enter a manager that has tightened up those areas of weakness, with a group of committed players, and witness the wrath of the “protectors of the proper way” to play football.

Yesterday’s 1-1 draw to Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park may have served as vindication for those skeptics. Spurs’ run of good form against good teams, and clean sheets (they had not conceded a goal in their previous four Premier League matches) took a sizeable hit, as it occurred against an opponent that sat 14th in the league table prior to the match.

The match was poised to be an interesting tactical battle for Jose Mourinho, who had set his team up in his classic low-block shape in the preceding three matches, against Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal. It was reasonable to assume that all three of those rivals felt comfortable playing with the ball, and that Mourinho could set up his team to play on the counter. However, Roy Hodgson’s Crystal Palace offered a much different proposition, themselves preferring to play Mourinho’s favoured style. Palace boasts a trio of tricky attacking players in Wilfried Zaha, Eberechi Eze and Christian Benteke, that could also be devastating on the counter, as demonstrated by their five goal explosion against West Brom in the prior week.

The match was played in a seemingly uncomfortable setting (judged as such, from the comforts of our warm, cozy home), with the rain pouring down for the entire 90 minutes. Palace also had the benefit of 2000 boisterous fans in their bandbox stadium, for the first time since the coronavirus lockdown. (Admittedly, I have always admired Selhurst Park. It has always seemed from afar as the stadium with the tightest confines, with one of the best atmospheres in the Premier League).

Spurs got the better of Palace for much of the first half, including a couple of breaks for Son (on a tidy direct ball from Alderweireld) and Steven Bergwijn (who was the beneficiary from an incisive Kane ball), which failed to result in a goal. The half was punctuated by yet another terrific goal from Harry Kane. Kane took a feed from Son in close space, just outside the Palace box, and hit a swerving right footed strike that proved tricky for Palace keeper, Vincente Guaita.

At that point, it seemed a game that Spurs would comfortably win, but as the second half wore on, they seemed sapped of their energy and any inventive attacking ideas. It would be easy to suggest that Spurs should have attacked more, and played more on the front foot in the second half. In his post match comments, Mourinho admitted that these were his exact instructions to the team.

Yet, to be fair, it was Palace that made it difficult for Spurs to play from the back, harrying Spurs backline, forcing many bad decisions and turnovers. Midfielders Hojbjerg and Sissoko were forced to defend more, and were unable to link with the attacking players. Distribution to Kane and Son was completely nullified. Crystal Palace were allowed to dictate the tempo and they continued to mount a series of chances.

The most eye catching Palace player was the electric Eze. A complete revelation, Eze was lean, elegant, with an almost balletic quality, and left Spurs’ midfield for dead on several occasions. As the second half wore on, Spurs badly faded, and were forced to concede multiple set pieces. Luckily for them, Christian Benteke continued to lack finesse in completing pitch perfect delivery, otherwise, the equalizer would have come much sooner. Eventually, in the 81st minute, Eze floated in free kick which proved a difficult knuckleball for Hugo Lloris. Jeffrey Schlupp was in proper position, to pounce on the rebound and smash it into the back of the net. Palace had equalized, and it was the first league goal Spurs had conceded since 1 November.

It felt that the goal was inevitable, based on the run of play. Although Spurs have been resolute in defending in recent weeks, they did concede late goals to Newcastle and West Ham in the first month of the season in an eerily similar fashion. In both those previous occasions, they had conceded late free kicks, near the edge of the box that resulted in a penalty (Dier’s controversial handball while trying to defend Andy Carroll of Newcastle) and a wondergoal (Manuel Lanzini’s smash and grab thump for West Ham). For a manager that harps on set piece defending and prides himself on his defensive record, seeing this equalizer come after a sequence of cheaply conceded set-pieces must have made Jose Mourinho completely (and rightfully) apoplectic at full-time.

It should be mentioned that despite their largely tepid performance in the second half, Spurs had two occasions to win the game late. In the 86th minute, Serge Aurier whipped in a hard cross, which took a quick deflection off Kane’s head. Remarkably, Guaita’s razor sharp instincts and quick movement prevented an otherwise sure goal. Palace once again relied on Guaita’s quality, when in the 93rd minute, he made an astonishing leap to deny a dipping Eric Dier free-kick from the edge of the box. The Spanish goalkeeper, who was panned for his movement and read of Kane’s first half strike, had thoroughly redeemed himself and was likely the Man of the Match by the end.

Luckily for Spurs, the disappointment of the afternoon was mitigated by the fact that all of their “Big 6” rivals dropped points during the weekend as well. Chelsea fell to Everton, while the Manchester Derby ended in an uninspiring, insipid 0-0 draw. Liverpool was flat against Fulham, and Arsenal continued through their woes, losing humiliatingly at home to Burnley.

Admittedly, Spurs did not look like a league leading side against Palace in this match. The passage of time tends to burnish our collective memories of how outstanding some of the great teams of the past were, and fill us with an apocryphal illusion that they played some version of a champagne football every time they graced a pitch. The reality remains that many great teams find ways to snatch victory in ugly games like this Palace game proved to be. Spurs nearly did, had it not been for the sublime brilliance of a Spanish goalkeeper. Yet, perhaps the skeptics like Michael Cox do provide a timely warning, that Spurs need further tactical refinement before being a true title contender. They cannot expect to play the same way against a Manchester City or Chelsea as they do against Crystal Palace, where they are rightfully expected to do more.

Championship teams show a tactical variety and an ability to get results in different ways. Perhaps a simple tactical change of playing nimble, quick ball distributors that can cope with a press, like Giovani Lo Celso or Harry Winks (rather than a heavy footed Mousa Sissoko), in front of the back line, could help provide service to the attacking players? Given the depth and variety of Mourinho’s bench, surely there is a Plan B or Plan C in the squad to handle teams that pose a significant challenge to break down.

This draw may have felt like a loss, considering the form that Spurs were on leading into the match, and the heightened expectations for what this season may bring. Yet, the way their other rivals have sputtered and have looked fatigued as the fixtures mount, Spurs have been given a true reprieve. They remain top of the table for now, and have been provided a reminder that they should seek some different ways to win games in the coming weeks.

Jaideep Kanungo

In a strange year, Spurs are on top of the league

Much has changed since my last correspondence on this mostly deserted, infrequently visited, uninspiring looking website.

Most strikingly, our understanding of the planet has been challenged, as a ‘once in a century’ pandemic has wreaked havoc on the world’s health and economies, and has thrust a spotlight on the range of social inequalities that many have ignored for far too long. In football land, the once antiquated, much maligned Jose Mourinho is now manager of Tottenham Hotspur, and against a backdrop of trendy pressing and high-line rivals, Spurs find themselves tied atop the Premier League table after eleven matches played in this most unusual 2020-21 season.

Many other excellent writers (namely Charlie Eccleshare, Jack Pitt-Brooke and Michael Cox of The Athletic, David Hytner and Jonathan Liew of The Guardian) have contributed exhaustive pieces for the reasons for why Spurs are top of the Premier League table for the first time since August 2014. In an effort to get back into writing, I will provide a succinct explanation, with hopefully more regular pieces to follow in the coming weeks and months:

Trusting the Manager

Undoubtedly, the sacking of Mauricio Pochettino in November 2019, was a jolt to anyone associated with the club. In his five full seasons at Spurs, Pochettino became a legendary manager, imposing an attractive style of football, developing several youngsters into star-calibre players, and taking the club to four consecutive ‘top 4’ finishes in the Premier League. His crowning achievement was leading Spurs to an unlikely Champions League Final appearance in 2019.

Unfortunately, during the peak of Pochettino’s era, as the club made the move from White Hart Lane to the new Tottenham Hotspur stadium (with a prolonged, inconvenient sojourn at Wembley Stadium), for a two year period, Spurs failed to invest in new players for their manager. Even though the 2019 summer transfer window brought new midfielders Tanguy Ndombele and Giovani Lo Celso to the club, the rest of the squad had grown old together and had become stale. Pochettino’s high energy system placed extreme physical demands on his players, that by the end, many likely felt burned out after years and years of his training methods (it is somewhat surprising to see that in the 18 month period after the run to the Champions League Final, four significant players (Danny Rose, Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen (at Inter Milan) and Fernando Llorente (at Napoli) no longer play regular, first team football) Through the early fall of 2019, results petered out and Pochettino became increasingly irascible and without an answer for his team’s mounting woes.

His sacking was an emotional blow for Spurs’ supporters, who experienced such heights under the Argentine manager (rivals will gleefully point to an empty trophy case), and the feelings of ill-will were further compounded when chairman Daniel Levy appointed Jose Mourinho as manager. Mourinho was loathed by a large segment of Tottenham supporters, from his tenure managing rivals Chelsea and most recently Manchester United, where he spectacularly flamed out with the club’s supporters and some star players. It became a genuine talking point in online forums, about what was more dour, Mourinho’s tactics, or his mood on any given day.

Mourinho’s first several months at Spurs were a mixed bag, as his footballing philosophy could not be more different to that of his predecessor. His job was made more difficult with significant injuries to his stars, Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min. Before football shut down in mid March due to the coronavirus pandemic, Spurs had fizzled out of the FA Cup in penalties to Norwich, were rendered impotent in the Champions League last 16 to RB Leipzig and were likely going to plummet down the Premier League table as well.

However, the three month lockdown on football, allowed Mourinho learn the idiosyncrasies of his squad, provided him the opportunity to indoctrinate them on his tactics, and allowed his star players to regain their fitness. With both Son and Kane fully fit, Spurs managed to claim points in all but two of their final nine matches, and finish a respectable sixth in the Premier League (Spurs had been 14th when he took over). His players were starting to buy in to his message, and even a malcontent like Tanguy Ndombele (the club’s most expensive transfer acquisition), who once appeared to be a lost cause and in the transfer heap, has rediscovered his joy and purpose.

Learning the Tactics

Over time, Mourinho has come to learn all the gadgets on his dashboard, and has had the opportunity to impose his tactical vision onto Spurs.

Of note, Mourinho has found confidence in his back line, which has been bolstered by resurgent performances from Eric Dier and Toby Alderweireld. While both players lack the pace and nimble footwork of a modern centreback, they make up for it with their excellent football intelligence, and extremely well timed challenges. Spurs also now have three dynamic, roving full backs in Sergio Reguilon (left back), Matt Doherty (right back) and Serge Aurier (right back). Last season, following the transfer of Kieran Trippier to Atletico Madrid, full back was a position of weakness for Spurs, with Ben Davies and Serge Aurier being the only consistent first team regulars (Japhet Tanganga filled the role admirably in spot duty, and Ryan Sessegnon and Kyle Walker-Peters proved to be too raw for full time duties). Mourinho felt comfortable playing a lopsided fullback system, where Ben Davies (left back) would remain deep and static (forming a back 3 in attack), allowing Aurier to roam forward and play as a right wing back, providing overlaps and crosses. This required Mousa Sissoko to drop back from his central midfield duties and occupy the right back role when Aurier was caught high up the pitch.

This season, with two roaming full backs, Spurs have been able to drop Sissoko and the impressive Danish central midfielder, Pierre-Emile Højbjerg into the back line to provide further reinforcement (Michael Cox has pointed out that against Chelsea, this took on the shape of a back 6). Højbjerg has been a revelation for Spurs this season, playing as a classic ball-winning, box to box central midfielder, the type that Mourinho had in his disposal in his previous table topping clubs. After defeating Southampton (at St. Mary’s) 5-2 and Manchester United (at Old Trafford) 6-1, where Spurs exposed the opposition high-lines and erratic defending, they have felt more comfortable conceding possession and playing Mourinho’s classic low-block shape for the bulk of their matches.

This structure has proven to be extremely effective. Thus far, after 11 matches, Spurs have conceded just nine goals, representing, for the moment, the best defense in the league. Impressively, in Spurs’ last three matches in a difficult series of fixtures, at home to Manchester City, at home to Chelsea, and at home to Arsenal, they did not concede a goal. Impressive stuff for a team that was hemorrhaging goals against toward the end of the Pochettino era.

Of course, low-block defensive football alone cannot win football matches consistently. Spurs have benefitted from explosive counter attacking options, led by the intelligence, skill and graft of their leader, Harry Kane, and the blinding pace and sublime clinical finishing of Son Heung-Min.

Whereas in previous seasons, Kane spent much of his time in opposition boxes, terrorizing defenders, playing more as a classic number 9, over the last year under Mourinho, Kane has evolved into a more complete player, and plays more as a number 10, who is involved in all facets of the game. He is often the player that clears balls out of his own box on opposition corners and has shown an incredible work rate, building on Mourinho’s tenet of having his attacking players involved in the defensive phase.

Kane’s game appears more complete this year, as he is often found in midfield areas bringing down balls from Dier or Alderweireld, briefly holding up the play, allowing Son to overlap him, and sending him perfectly placed and weighted passes into space behind opposition defenders. This simple, yet effective tactic has yielded superlative results, and remains largely unplayable (Thomas Partey and Granit Xhaka were the most recent victims, in the North London derby). After 11 matches, Son is on 10 goals (second in the league to Dominic Calvert-Lewin) and 3 assists, while Kane is on 8 goals and an eye-popping 10 assists (first in the league).

Having Squad Depth

Unlike under the final month of the Pochettino era, Mourinho has already earned the trust of a fawning chairman Levy, and has received greater investment in the squad. In addition to Doherty, Reguilon and Højbjerg, Spurs reinforced at centre forward with Carlos Vinicius (from Benfica), who has shown a touch of skill and pace in his Europa League duties, and centre back Joe Rodon (from Swansea). All of these new faces have blended in well at Spurs, and provides Mourinho with a veritable list of options, as the fixtures pile up in the coming month. This is true, without having even mentioned the return of Spurs’ progigal son, Gareth Bale, who came to Spurs as a raw, string bean 18 year old in 2007 from Southampton, and left six years later to Real Madrid as a fully developed world beater. Four Champions League titles on, Bale is back at Spurs (on loan, as he had not been able to get into the Madrid side, and quarreled with his manager Zinedine Zidane) with his smile intact, and his mood apparently lifted.

Curiously, Bale has yet to settle fully on the pitch, missing the first month due to a muscle injury, and only really appearing in Europa League matches, and occasional Premier League substitute appearances. Although he has scored twice, he has looked devoid of the thrust that defined his game during the apotheosis of his Spurs career. Thus far, he also does not appear to have the fitness to perform the level of defensive commitment that Mourinho seeks in his wingers (and what he has unlocked in Steven Bergwijn and Lucas Moura, who appear to be getting more Premier League looks).

Spurs overall look to be on the up after eleven matches. Too much football remains to make definitive conclusions, but reassuringly for us famished supporters, Mourinho appears to have bought the trust of his players, instilled them with his philosophies, unlocked the world class potential of Kane and Son, and has a bench full of hungry and committed players who will likely push their rivals to the end.

It really has been a gruesome year, but football once again reminds us, that there may be light at the end of the tunnel after all.

Jaideep Kanungo