This is why Spurs are bottom of the Premier League!

BBC Football

Tactical analysis: Why Spurs are bottom and why De Zerbi's attack is close but defence is the bigger worry

The video analyses why Tottenham Hotspur are bottom of the Premier League under Roberto De Zerbi. The analyst argues that their build-up has clear ideas but they lack finishing details and a prolific scorer, while the bigger issue is a narrow 4-2-4, exposed wide 2v2s and an uncoordinated press. The conclusion is that the attack is close to clicking, but the defensive weaknesses need fixing.

Umir Irfan analyses why Tottenham Hotspur are struggling to score in the Premier League, by breaking down their attacking build-up, decision-making, and narrow shape. Can Spurs solve their problems to turn chances into goals? Follow more on the BBC Sport app, iPlayer and Sounds. ============= Find us here: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BBCMOTD X: https://x.com/BBCMOTD Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bbcfootball/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@bbcsport bbcfootball

Transcript

Tottenham have had a torrent start to the Premier League season under Roberto De Zerbi. After five games, they sit bottom of the table with no wins and just two points. Only newly promoted Coventry City have scored less goals and after finishing 17th in the past two seasons, Spurs once again seem to be flirting with relegation. But despite the tough start, are there signs that De Zerbi is not far off getting the best out of Tottenham? I'm Mohamed Ali Fan and I write about football tactics for the BBC. In this video, I'm going to be explaining [music] exactly what De Zerbi has been trying to do with Tottenham. Why his tactics are unlike any other team in the league, why Spurs' attack may actually be a source of some promise, and the hidden details that explain why Spurs have struggled so much at the start of this season. Let's dive into it. So, to understand why De Zerbi's Spurs are sitting at the bottom of the Premier League table, we have to first know what he is asking of his players. And the Premier League looks different to when De Zerbi left in 2024. But he has still shown clear signs of retaining his tactical principles whilst adapting to how the league has changed. On the board, we've got Spurs set up in this 2-3-2-3 shape or this 4-1-2-3 shape attacking this way. And the opposition defending in a 4-4-2 in yellow. Whether at Brighton, Marseille, or Spurs, De Zerbi's sides have always looked to entice opponents to apply forward pressure, often through the slowing down of play or the passing of the ball backwards. They then react to opponents' movements by speeding up play looking to take advantage of the spaces that open up behind the pressing players through direct passing or powerful carrying of the ball. And De Zerbi has said this himself in a 2020 coaching seminar. He explained that the stronger the pressure of the opponent, the more vertical our actions have to be. Not only are Spurs playing short in build-up, we have seen clear examples of them going longer earlier. The game plan is essentially to create situations where there are fewer opponents back defending. So, knowing that this is the plan, what are we seeing on the pitch? Well, surprisingly, their attacking play and especially their build-up, until they get to the final third seems to show some promise. What we can see here is that same central play. The ball is with Bentancur. You can see the narrow midfield shape and the defensive shape from Everton. It gives them an option out wide with Savinho, who seems to be in space, but we know that Spurs still are trying to find their central players. And with Fernandes dropping deep, the defensive line don't follow. And the midfield line of Everton pushing higher gives him the space to receive in between the lines. As the players then converge on Fernandes, knowing he's a really dangerous central threat, Savinho is suddenly in a lot of space out wide. And again, against Everton, you see it slightly more in the build-up. They try and push forward. The players marked in yellow are stepping higher, and it means that there's space behind their midfield line. Spurs' players, especially their attackers, are dropping deep to access that space. And then again, you see Tyrick George torn between going out to Archie Gray on a wider position or blocking that center of the pitch. As he's caught in between two positions, Van Hecke can then choose the option that's slightly more open. The ball is actually funneled out to Archie Gray in this situation cuz Tyrick George comes in so much, and then Gray plays a long pass into the attackers running in behind against fewer defenders. But after they get out of those build-up situations, the next part of their play is where they begin to struggle. The ball goes into Savinho. The reason why they spent so much on him as a player in the system is to be really quick, be really direct, and push the defensive line back, capitalizing on these moments where the opposition have fewer players back in defense. In the box, you have two strikers against two central defenders. We also see, I think it's Tonali here making that run to try and uh provide some attacking support. and then you see Fernandez as well arriving because there is that knowingness from the team to move quickly once that initial pass, that direct pass is played. We'll move it on a touch here and I think this detail from Marmoush is really really telling and also really good from Marmoush as an individual player. So, Savinho the arrow shows he's making that darting move towards the byline and as Solanke is moving towards the six-yard box, it's Marmoush who is pointing towards the space behind the defense. Now, when you watch football, whenever there is a really direct move, defenders innately move towards their own goal. It's a mechanism sort of to protect their own goal. It's a very natural thing to do. The space is often actually in the space in front of the defense. So, Marmoush is pointing towards that, perhaps that Tonali, perhaps referencing the area he wants the ball to go into. Fernandez is also looking to arrive in those positions and De Zerbi's idea, when it works really well, is to play these cutbacks into these zones after accelerating play. So, it's something to really look out for. It's not necessarily clicked so far as we'll go on to see, but this passing option is really open. Marmoush pulls towards the penalty spot. Solanke is occupying one of the defenders and the fullback on the far side hasn't followed. Savinho actually hesitate. He has the opportunity to play the pass. Instead, he looks up and he looks for this option in Fernandez instead, which isn't a bad option. You're still playing that sort of cutback into the space in front of the defense and then Fernandez, as he gets the ball, he's not necessarily the most natural number 10 player in the world. When he was signed, people assumed he was going to be more of a box-to-box player, more of a double pivot player. So, he's getting into these number 10 positions and when the ball comes to him, instead of striking first time, he hesitates. He takes a touch and by that time, we know Everton and Premier League teams in general are really intense. They crowd the box. They essentially get around him. The shot is blocked and it doesn't result in a goal. Some of the ideas are being set up well. De Zerbi is obviously coaching the need to pull off defensive lines when the play is very direct. Mamush seems to be internalizing a lot of the instructions really well in my opinion. He's making last line runs. He's dropping into the pocket when Spurs are trying to build up. And then when it comes to finishing moves, he's pulling off really nicely to show for the ball. It will take time for Spurs attackers to then have the synergy to recognize that there will be a player in those areas and to lack the hesitation that then causes this move to fizzle out. There's also the case of player profiles and with Fernandez, as good as he is as a general player, he's not necessarily a prolific scorer in these areas. Gallagher has been more of a natural scorer for De Zerbi so far. In Marseille, where De Zerbi side average 2.3 goals on average per game, in the box, they had Aubameyang, who's one of the best movers in world football, who's a brilliant finisher and even at his age now in La Liga has scored numerous goals to begin the season with. And I think generally as players come back from injury, as Mamush makes his claim in this team and as sort of Savinho begins to recognize these movements, these situations should turn into more shots and more goals for a Spurs side that aren't necessarily clicking yet, but have some signs of promise in that attacking phase. So, despite their struggles in attack, there are good ideas for De Zerbi's Spurs. The biggest problem for me might actually be in defense. I'll go through some examples here. We see a 4-2-4 shape and it's very narrow and it's partially zonal. The idea is Spurs have a better base to then launch counterattacks from. It's actually the same defensive shape and setup as Michael Carrick's United. The 4-2-4 protects the center of the pitch, which most of the dangerous chances in a game come through. I believe that this is causing a few of their problems. Because they're so narrow in the front line, it's quite easy for teams to play around them. When there is so much space for these players to play in in the wide areas against Spurs, you're going to get punished against good opposition. The second example showing this idea is against Everton in the 14th minute. You can clearly see the 4-2-4 again. The left back is out of our picture. You can see Savinho now on the right wing holding that central position. The idea again is to keep the middle of the pitch safe. But, Everton are really clever because they don't put anybody behind him. Spurs are defending fairly zonally, so they're covering an area looking to funnel Everton out wide, but Everton are prepared for this and they simply look for that pass. It's very easy for them to get on the ball, turn and face, and then they put the fullback in a world of trouble. The pass goes out wide, and it is the fullback, Mykolenko, who makes an overlapping run that Savinho doesn't track because he's in a more fixed position. These ideas are very common. I'm just drilling the point home, but there are small details here that make the problem a little bit worse. But, a problem for me has been midfielders or the attackers pressing alone in an uncoordinated manner, and it gives opposition the ability to drop deep and receive between the lines. And interestingly, that's exactly what De Zerbi's trying to do the other way when he attacks. The Premier League managers of this season are almost using De Zerbi's famous tactics against him uh when they do attack. It's really interesting. So, one detail I really want to drill home is the ability for teams to exploit these 2v2 areas out wide against Spurs, especially when Savinho's position is more of a zonal one. And then, it is the winger who attaches himself to Archie Gray, the fullback, before dropping deep. Here, you see the player dropping deep, and the fullback makes a run again off the back of the more narrow Seveinho. The problem here now is for Archie Gray to leave his winger who's pulled him infield and then try and shift onto the fullback who is running with momentum and it's a really hard and difficult task for him to do. So, that's a really big problem that teams are exploiting against this De Zerbi side time and time again. You just can't give up these situations as often as Spurs are doing against good Premier League opposition. The last threat to all of these defensive issues, in my opinion, is that half and half press that we described a little bit ago. De Zerbi side are trying to regain the ball high and the attackers push forward, the midfielders push forward, but if the defenders stay deep, you have those big gaps. Spurs have to resolve this issue. They either have to go more collectively as a team when pressing or it's better if they sit off. The final example that ties it all together, the disjointed press at times, the lack of pressure on the ball, the narrow nature, the inability to deal with 2v2s, is the goal that Newcastle scored against them. And Geisler did brilliantly to identify this as a solution. You see the 4-2-4, the two narrow midfielders, the four narrow attackers, and the winger, Elanga in this situation, has moved infield dragging and almost pinning Robertson inside. It's the fullback who then makes a long run into the space that Robertson vacated and because there aren't man-to-man references out wide, Tell is still holding a more narrow position in that zonal shape. So, there's a 2v1 out wide on the flank and obviously they're not pressing here. With time and space on the ball, plays long into the fullback who's made that long run and then Elanga is free in space in front of the defense. Tonali tries to switch, they mess things up a little bit and Elanga ends up scoring the goal. Look, we know that the numbers say that Spurs' attack is slightly problematic, their defense is a little bit better. The underlying ideas that actually stronger for their attack and worse for their defense. So, with all that being said, what's my assessment of Spurs so far this season? Well, I think they're close in terms of their attacking. They've got good [music] ideas. They're missing the final details, whether that's the timing of the run or the pass itself, but they're lacking the players in my opinion to score prolifically and often. The bigger issue for me that they need to pay attention to is their defensive frailties, which haven't caused them a huge amount of issues so far, but as the season progresses it might become a real source of weakness for Des Zerbi's men.