Tottenham adapt to life in the Champions League

It is approaching fifty years since Tottenham Hotspur last played at the highest level of European competition. You might say therefore that any time needed to dust down the cobwebs and creak back into gear can be forgiven them. Spurs are now back in the land of the giants, and while their Champions League games thus far should be admired for providing ample entertainment, what is clear is that Harry Redknapp and his North London side are taking time to find their feet.

Like a child about to dive into the deep end of a swimming pool for the first time, Tottenham have dipped their toe hesitantly in and out of this oasis of European footballing excellence, unsure how to approach their entry into the water.

Manager Redknapp, also testing himself at this level for the first time, has experimented with different systems and shapes as he attempts to find the right combination for this group of players. And to his credit, thus far he has shown he can react to different situations, tweaking his tactics when they are shown not to be working by craftier opposition.

While there is always a lot of talk and hyperbole about the Premier League being the best league in the world, the tactical battles in Europe are far more sophisticated than they are in the domestic game. Part of this is down to the differences in approach to football and the multitude of philosophies on how to play the game that exist in European competition, as opposed to the more rigid thinking in England (as reflected in the vastly lower number of qualified coaches in England when compared to say Italy or Spain).

The other part is only natural. The Champions League brings together the best teams from around the continent and, with that the best coaches. Naturally they happen to study and think most about the game, and with that comes a sharper, more refined feel for the ebb and flow of a football match, and how to alter the course of a game. Redknapp and Spurs are having to learn on their feet.

Redknapp recently denounced the importance of tactics in football though, words that raised a few eyebrows:

“You can argue about formations, tactics and systems for ever, but to me football is fundamentally about the players,” Redknapp claimed in a column for The Sun.

“Whether it is 4-4-2, 4-2-3-1, 4-3-3, the numbers game is not the beautiful game in my opinion.”

“It’s 10 per cent about the formation and 90 per cent about the players. If you have the best ones and they do their jobs, then they can pretty much play any way you want them to.”

And while his overall gist, that players are the most important element of the game, is undoubtedly true, his belittling of the important role tactics play in football has been ruthlessly proven misguided and false in just a handful of Champions League matches. At this level, tactics do matter.

Talking Tottenham tactics

When Spurs qualified for the Champions League, beating Manchester City 1-0 away back in May, they did so utilising an ambitious 4-4-2 system. Current thinking might have steered them away from such a formation away from home in such an important game. Weeks earlier, Manchester United had gone there and played 4-5-1.

With the success of 2009/2010 still ringing in his ears, Redknapp’s approach to the Champions League qualifying playoff was no different. 4-4-2, two strikers and two wingers. Why change a winning formula?

Young Boys vs inexperienced boys

Drawn against Young Boys, Spurs took that system to Switzerland for the first leg (see diagram #1 on your right – click to enlarge).

It was an unmitigated disaster. The pace and intensity of the Swiss Super League runners-up was too much for them. Spurs, playing just one holding midfield player and with little to no tracking back from Roman Pavlyuchenko and Jermain Defoe, were completely overrun. They went 3-0 down inside 28 minutes.

This complacency on the European stage was rectified by Redknapp however, when he substituted Benoit Assou-Ekotto for Tom Huddlestone after 36 minutes and Luka Modric for Nico Kranjcar at half time (though to what extent that was down to tactical nous or injuries to Assou-Ekotto and Modric is unclear).

The change in shape paid dividends as, one suspects, did a rollicking at half time. Tottenham worked a lot harder in the second half in Bern, Defoe and Pavlyuchenko helping out a lot more with the defensive side of the game, and with Kranjcar tucking in, Defoe slightly deeper when they lost possession and Huddlestone and Palacios providing more cover, a switch to a variation of 4-2-3-1 changed the game.

Did Redknapp and Tottenham learn a lesson in Switzerland, or were the changes enforced through injury?

A bit of both I imagine, but while perhaps slightly fortunate in the way they were induced, Tottenham’s manager did at least show a willingness to change system when needed.

Tottenham vs Young Boys 2nd leg

In the second leg, buoyed by a late and largely undeserved comeback and playing in front of their own fans at White Hart Lane, Tottenham were much improved.

In their natural environment the 4-4-2 system worked a lot better, though Redknapp showed signs of a lesson learnt when he included two holding midfielders in Huddlestone and Palacios. They sat deeper than in Bern, leaving the pace and thrust of Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon to rip into Young Boys. (See diagram #2 – click to enlarge).

A 4-0 result told the whole tale – Tottenham showed themselves to be far more comfortable in this system at home, and the boot was now on the other foot – Young Boys couldn’t handle the men in white. The Champions League group stage was Spurs’ reward.

Drawn with Inter Milan, FC Twente and Werder Bremen, opponents in their first game, Tottenham have many more challenges to come, and it will be fascinating to see how they adapt as the weeks progress.

In the Weser Stadion in Bremen, Redknapp and his staff faced another intriguing tactical test.

In Bremen

With Luka Modric again absent and Rafael Van der Vaart now signed, Tottenham went with a completely different shape to their two previous Champions League games.

Here was a more traditional 4-2-3-1, the new en vogue tactical system sported by so many at the World Cup. Huddlestone and Jermaine Jenas sat as holding midfielders, Van der Vaart linked the play in front of them and Bale and Lennon ran the flanks either side, looking for Crouch in the middle up front. (see diagram #3).

Again they raced into an early lead. Spurs are good at doing this. In their last 20 games, an overwhelming majority of their goals have come in the opening half hour of matches. It was the case again in Bremen as they went 2-0 up inside twenty minutes.

Bale had the freedom of the left hand side in the opening part of the game as Werder Bremen’s tactics left Clemens Fritz isolated, and the Welshman, who took to this level of football like a duck to water, was magnificent. Unsurprisingly both Spurs goals came from moves down their left flank.

Again however, Tottenham and perhaps Redknapp’s relative naivety at this level showed in the way Bremen manager Thomas Schaaf manipulated the tactics into his favour once 2-0 down. Werder began with an odd, untidy shape – described as a 4-1-3-2 by UEFA – but in which Marko Marin, Wesley and Hugo Almeida all tended to drift left. With Phillip Bargfrede tucking inside instead of staying right it left Fritz exposed and Bremen lop-sided.

Schaaf shafts ‘Arry

Schaaf handled this with an early substitution – Bargfrede off, Aaron Hunt on in the 37th minute. Bremen regained their shape, matching Spurs’ 4-2-3-1, the visitors got more and more nervous, losing possession more often, and Bremen got back into the game, eventually snatching a 2-2 draw. Schaaf’s tactical awareness had paid dividends.

Could Redknapp have sniffed the warning signs earlier and amended his own setup accordingly? Perhaps. He took off Lennon for Palacios in the 75th minute and, with Robbie Keane on for Van der Vaart, switched to a 4-3-3 towards the end with Bale higher up the pitch and Palacios, Huddlestone and Jenas holding. But by then it was too late. Werder Bremen were back in the match.

All this goes to show that, at the highest level of the game, on the European scene where big Champions League games are managed by sophisticated, forward-thinking managers, tactics do matter. They are not, as Redknapp described, “10%” of the game. Judging by the numerous tactical switches he has had to make already in just 3 Champions League matches, it appears Tottenham’s manager is having to learn this already. And fast.

(photo via Raphael Moser on Flickr)

Champions League, Football Tactics, Harry Redknapp, Tottenham Hotspur