I am a typical armchair critic. I think I know the answers, but rarely do. Having said that I will throw my hat into the ring and give my opinion on AVB' current tactics.
4-2-3-1
I don't necessarily have a problem with the formation in principle, but the way it is deployed. Spurs play with 2 holding/deep midfielders with 3 supporting/attacking midfielders and a striker. No problem so far. It's the next part Spurs struggle with.
Problem 1- Congestion
Generally speaking most teams will concede possession and put numbers behind the ball. This usually means the area on edge of the penalty area is populated by 8 or 9 opposition players. It would not be unusual to see 18 players in this area fighting for possession. There is no space for our attacking players to create chances. Yes Spurs have had more shots at goal than almost anyone, but how man actually inside the penalty area. It is not surprising that our last 4 goals have all been scored from outside of the penalty area.
Problem 2 - Slow Build Up Play
The pace at which Spur move the ball around will also determine the success of the team. Now the continental way is to slowly build up play, keep the ball, move it around. This may well work against ill disciplined, disorganised teams, but you are not likely to encounter to man of those n the Premier League. Another key is to have a playmaker who will have the vision, awareness and technique to pinpoint that killer pass. I don't believe Spurs have that player as yet.
Problem 3 - Inverted Wingers
This worked great last year when Bale played on the right and cut inside to score on his left, but that was then and Tottenham have no one near his quality at the moment. Spurs need their wingers to beat their man to the by line and put the ball in front of Soldado and co.
Solution - Pace
To me it is really simple. A few years back when Jol was manager, we used the pace of our team to counter attack with ferocity. We have some very quick players Walker, Lennon, Defoe, Lamela, Townsend. The ball should be distributed as quick as possible to these players to get in behind the opposition. Spurs have genuine ball winners in Sandro and Vertongen who should be able to get the play going quickly.
If Spurs encourage opposition teams onto them, there will be plenty of space for our faster attacking players to break into. The system is not so important as the deployment, I am not too fussed if we play 4-4-2, 4-3-3, 4-5-1 and so on. It is how we use the ball when in possession that counts
