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Modric’s influence curbed: A tactical breakdown of Tottenham’s loss to Manchester United:

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Tottenham’s 5-2 loss to Arsenal was a shock to most after throwing away a 2-0 lead. One big feature of that game was Theo Walcott struggling badly in the first half and then with Redknapp’s team entering the second at 2-2, leaving masses of space in behind for Walcott to destroy them.

They failed to keep the ball or defend deep and effectively at the same time. This was surprising for a team managed by a person who is considered to be England’s next manager, as on the international stage teams are having to be more reactive to match situations and this was not a good audition for Harry. Tottenham looked to get back on track by beating a Manchester united side they have struggled to get the better of recently.

Tottenham set out in a 4-4-2 shape with Sandro and Jake Livermore being a defensive block in midfield, Lennon stretching play on the right and Modric on the left. Modric’s positioning was the most interesting feature of Tottenham’s play and had a big influence on the way Tottenham played.

Harry Redknapp’s classic 4-4-2 with spurs has normally involved two flying wingers with one attack minded central midfielder alongside a central one. For this fixture Modric did not look to run forward when a team had the ball but came inside into a deep position next to the two central midfielders to get touches on the ball as if he was a left sided deep-lying regista. A player like Samir Nasri likes to receive the ball high up the pitch, cut inside and combine with the forwards and midfielders which is why it works for Manchester City but modric was still inclined to stay deep even on the wing and this made Tottenham predictable even though they dominated possession.

Sandro and Livermore tried to close down Carrick and Scholes early on in the game but this sometimes lead to gaps in front of Spurs’ defence and five minutes in Wellbeck managed to get into this space and waste a shot. When started attacks out from the back Rooney and Wellbeck dropped onto Livermore and Sandro and with Modric deep as explained above Tottenham couldn’t get the ball out, but with Evans and Ferdinand not being particularly strong in the air they looked as if they could get some joy with direct balls to the forwards and quick balls to Lennon on the right flank.

Later on in the half even though Modric didn’t have much of a direct effect on the game his position allowed Saha to find space as Jones often ventured high up the pitch to Modric down and Saha moved into the vacated space to receive the ball. This forced the rest of the back four to shuffle across and gave Lennon space on the right to try and penetrate. Sandro or Livermore could have attempted to make a late run but were playing it safe and didn’t exploit the gaps.

After going one down at the end of the first half, Modric at the start of the second half seemed to be instructed to play higher up the pitch and break inside to a position behind Saha and Adebayor, with Assou-Ekotto having room to overlap and Sandro covering the left flank more. This is where Modric could really try an influence the game and try and thread difficult balls through a deeply position United defence. However with Spurs starting to look like they could equalise united scored a second from lax defending. Then United found space in between the line’s again after beating The Spurs press for Young to fire a shot from outside the box home after Kaboul hesitated to close him down for the third goal.

Being three nil down the game looked beyond Tottenham but to try and claw the game back Kranjcar came on for Sandro and Modric moved into the middle in a deeper position and his influence on the game dwindled again, Redknapp probably though he would influence the game more in the middle but it had an opposite effect. . In fact it was nine minutes after the change when Modric finally touched the ball. After the change Rooney moved to an even deeper position and a combination of him Giggs and Carrick managed to keep the ball away for a long period of the game. Defoe managed to get one back but it was far too late and although dominating possession Tottenham didn’t do it for most of the game in the right areas and were comfortably beaten.

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  • vinny says:

    Top stuff, Theo. What should have been the formation – maybe Rose up the left and any one of Modric/Livermore/Sandro getting up in support of ONE striker?

  • NiceoneCyril says:

    Why the hell does Redknapp keep playing Modric on the left when he is much more influential in the middle. We could have put Dos Santos on the left but once again Redknapp fails to give him a try and will stick to his old favourites. I will dread him being the next England manager because we will have a team full of his old cronies plus he is tactically inept. He leaves a goal scorer sitting on the bench in Defoe. He will be off soon because he is not getting hardly any playing time. You can’t tell me that Saha is a better scorer than Defoe. Adebayor has no close control and loses the ball. If we don’t spend some serious money next season I think I will give up.

  • Acton_Yid says:

    I said it all along, since Friday, playing Modric on the left is WASTED. He is, as the Italians call, a “trequartista” that is; a forward playmaker. Yes, he can dictate from deeper (a la Huddlestone), but is most effective in the middle when supporting the primary attacking midfielder or second striker (eg. Van der Vaart/Defoe/Saha). Rose should have been on the left with one of Sandro or Livermore sacrificed, after all, United’s midfield is way WEAK, Carrick and Scholes would have been easy for Sandro/Livermore and Modric to sort out, even Rooney dropping deep didn’t create any burning problems (he scored from cr@p defending at a set piece (again!) not through his midfield link-up). Adebayor up front with Defoe (NOT Saha !) and we would at the very least got a draw: Friedel, Walker, Kaboul, Dawson, Ekotto, Lennon, Sandro/Livermore, Rose, Modric, Adebayor, Defoe…Christ ! Redknapp needs to take his head out of the FA’s @rse and sort this mess out…

  • tony says:

    a major tactical error left us exposed.ade was everywhere.back in defense and running from deep.if ade had stayed up field all the time untd would have had to at least 2 maybe 3 players back.hes got a great attitude to try and help out.its wrong.his job is to go for goal all the time.untd could throw up defenders and overwhelm our defense.arry should be as shrewd as arsene wenger,and ferguson.its not enough to say go out and play.there must be a plan.manchesters teams are a level above us.arsenal are not.we can play better.let us.

  • Ossie says:

    It seems to me if 1 or 2 of the so called starting 11 are injured or suspended, harry is lost for a plan B and then upsets the balance of the team by playing guys outa position, which helps the opposition more than it helps us. We are saying none of our midfield ( including Modric ) yesterday made runs beyond the front 2, but so what, look at utds midfield 2, Carrick and Scholes, theyl never do that, thats why ther so hard to score against, they support the play and always sheid the defense. We have an exceptional squad, and Harrys not using it, never will in my mind, he doesnt trust them it seems to me. Rose should have started on the left yesterday with Lennon on the right, Livermore and Sandro in the middle and Modric playing just behind Adebayor, When we went 2 down it should have been changed, and dropped one of the holding midfielders, and slotted in Modric there, brought on defoe or saha, leaving the team totally balanced all throught the game, and harder to beat too, and another thing that irks me, when were behind as we were yesterday, especially against the top teams, would Harry ever tell our guys to stop running and chasing blindly and creating space for the opposition, leave our shape be our defense, you never see Utd chase aimlessly and stay wide open, we did it V arsenal in the 2nd half and they ran straight through us from defence to front. Just drop off, but keep a higher defensive line…shore up the middle of the park, stop the top teams playing in there.Just because we go a goal down doesnt mean we have to chase every ball in every inch of the park and try to get it back with in 10 secs. We were doing that yesterday, and ended up chasing the ball for far too long and ended up dishearthened and well beaten with 20 mins to go.

  • Theo Sakyi says:

    Hey guys follow me on twitter: @TKSakyi

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