On the latest episode of the Extra Inch podcast, Chris Miller, Nathan Clark and Bardi have been discussing the latest goings-on at Tottenham Hotspur, focusing on the recent wins against Lokomotiv Plovdiv and Southampton.
One topic of discussion during the most recent episode, which was titled: ‘Mourinho Masterclass?‘ was Spurs’ weakness from set-pieces so far this season. Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored the only goal of the game in Spurs’ loss against Everton, heading in from a Lucas Digne free-kick delivery (per BBC), whilst Plovdiv opened the scoring against the Lilywhites from a corner, so you can certainly see why those on the podcast feel it could be an area of concern.
Here’s what Bardi had to say about the subject during the podcast:
“I think a lot of our problems come with our inability to defend the second ball in a set-piece. So, the Che Adams chance came from us failing to clear the ball and then pick up on the second ball, the [Moussa] Djenepo strike where it hit the post, once again, us failing to deal with set-pieces properly. I think it’s a major issue that we’re facing.
“The goal against Everton was from a set-piece. I’ve never seen the goal that we conceded away in the Europa League, but I’ve heard that was from a set-piece as well. So I think there’s something going wrong there which needs addressing, because we’re giving up too many high-quality chances [at] set-pieces.”
TIF Thoughts…
As Bardi mentions, Southampton very nearly capitalised from Spurs’ failure to clear the ball from a set-piece last Sunday, with Adams forcing Hugo Lloris into a superb save (0:09 in the video), so you can certainly understand his argument that it is a problem for Jose Mourinho’s side.
Do you agree that Spurs have been poor at defending set-pieces?
Yes
No
It will be interesting to see if Spurs approach defending set-pieces differently in upcoming games, as it certainly appears to be something which they will need to work on, otherwise, you suspect they will continue to be punished by it throughout the season.