Tottenham Hotspur Are Finally Reaping Benefits of Defensive Partnerships
A football team does not lose 5-1 and just forget about it.
Tottenham Hotspur's final-day defeat to relegated Newcastle United by that scoreline was mostly a consequence of their loss of motivation after their Premier League title challenge ended unsuccessfully. Still, the ease with which they were repeatedly bypassed was sufficiently jarring and should not go unacknowledged.
The loss underlined Tottenham's need to continue working on the defensive partnerships that had been so integral to a mostly great season. Their development marked a break from the inconsistency flavoured norm of the preceding few campaigns.
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Manager Mauricio Pochettino has taken a further step away from that time with the decision to allow centre-back Federico Fazio to join Roma on loan.
Though Fazio signed for Tottenham after some of the players who have become regular parts of his compatriot's defence, he feels like a remnant of a different time. Like he had his chance to be part of the future but was still stuck in old ways.
This is somewhat misleading and certainly harsh. Poor though Fazio was in last season's Capital One Cup defeat to Arsenal, a solitary appearance is hardly enough for a player to prove his worth.
During 2014-15 his stretches in the team playing alongside Jan Vertonghen contributed significantly to the team's better runs of form.
Unfortunately Fazio's struggle to hit the ground running after time on the sidelines—exacerbated by, at 6'3", his more cumbersome nature—gradually limited his appeal to Pochettino.
If a change was required in his defence, he needed more immediate reliability, not the promise of it two or three weeks later. Pochettino's choice to move on from one of the first signings made in his reign has been backed up by the good covering job Kevin Wimmer did for Vertonghen last season, as well as the overall impact made by the more well-rounded Toby Alderweireld.
Fazio was something of a throwback to a period when Spurs' defending was particularly erratic. Or rather, the understanding of what combinations would serve the team best in the position was.
The injury issues suffered by longtime captain Ledley King either side of the turn of the decade had a big influence here.
Spurs got by all right at different points without him, as well as adjusting when he was available.
Michael Dawson and Sebastien Bassong were immense at times, helping the club qualify for the Champions League during 2009-10. William Gallas did similarly well in some big nights in the competition itself, while some of Younes Kaboul's best work for the club came when Dawson missed large chunks of 2011-12.
King's retirement at the end of the latter campaign was a catalyst for the greater uncertainty Pochettino has only recently remedied. At the same time Andre Villas-Boas replaced Harry Redknapp, his haphazard rotations in defence doing his team few favours.
Tottenham switched between the likes of Steven Caulker, Gallas and Vertonghen at centre-back while at full-back Villas-Boas even initially toyed with using Gareth Bale there again (a position the star player had long since moved beyond). The resulting disarray set the team back, costing points that arguably would be the difference in their Champions League-spot near-miss the following spring.
The Portuguese's realisation Dawson provided much better leadership than the more selfish Gallas helped improve things. But he still could not decide on who he liked best where, hiding behind the need to keep his team fresh in the spring with more changes (one particularly undermining spell of rotation cost Spurs crucial momentum).
The issues lasted through to Pochettino's first season in charge. But even as he too struggled for a time with deciding his first-choice centre-backs—particularly around the ill-fated early season spell with Kaboul as captain—he was hinting at the more decisive management that has come to inform the recent improvements.
Pochettino replaced Danny Rose at left-back with Ben Davies after the former got injured in a loss to Stoke City. The Welshman kept his place even after Rose recovered, doing well enough to suggest he had nailed down the spot.
Heading into 2015 Pochettino brought Rose back in. Clearly motivated by his absence, the older defender found another level in his game while Davies was given a taste of the playing time he would need to strive to claim again.
It emphasised the standards the manager was looking to implement. Play well, do as he asked and you would stay in the side. Do the opposite and someone else would get their chance instead.
This requirement for determination was seen in the partnerships that made up Tottenham's defence last season.
The most obvious ones were the central duos of Alderweireld and Vertonghen, and for a couple of months Alderweireld and Wimmer. But just as important were the centre-backs' on-field relationships with their full-backs, as well as their understanding with the auxiliary defender role performed by Eric Dier when he would drop back from midfield.
The Belgians overcame some initial missteps to set a vital tone at the heart of the team's resistance.
In its simplest interpretation Vertonghen would take the lead and Alderweireld would back him up.
Naturally there was leeway for adjustments, while under sustained pressure both made a solid unit. Neither was/is a particularly vocal or dominant leader, but their awareness of the other's methods resulted in a trust of instinct that served them well (the difference can be seen in their disorganisation at home to Stoke City last August compared to just about any performance from September to January).
By the end of his covering spell Wimmer was flagging, but up until then he had done well maintaining the balance. Alderweireld impressively took on more responsibility for the new pairing, no small thing given in previous (cup) appearances without Vertonghen he had been below-par.
Either side of those three, Rose and Kyle Walker did career-best work in 2015-16.
Rose's improvement has already been noted, but Walker played with as much grit and determination as we had ever seen from him. Both were tasked with providing width further forward but did not let their efforts in attack take away the focus needed protecting the flanks further back.
Each were combative defending the entry point to the penalty area along with their centre-back. Generally speaking they were also alert in covering situations when either Alderweireld, Vertonghen or Wimmer had been bypassed from the opposite side.
Pochettino did rotate at full-back at points throughout the season, handing Davies and Kieran Trippier opportunities.
It worked well for the most part with both hungry to impress. But when the changes to the defence started to unsettle things (heading into springtime the not-so-good performances against Borussia Dortmund and West Ham United stood out), the manager was aware enough to move back to using Rose and Walker consistently.
With no big defensive recruits so far this summer, Pochettino is looking like he is placing his trust in the same men again.
The humiliation of St. James' Park and the iffy preceding displays in the draw with Chelsea and loss to Southampton showed that none of his defenders are infallible. If one or two under-performs and a compartment weakens then the others across the back are in trouble too.
Interestingly Pochettino has spoken of his belief some of the club's youngsters can help with driving competition and acting as cover if required.
"Today we can see that in Cameron Carter-Vickers and Anton Walkes, and the other day with Dominic Ball, we have young and talented players and trust in them," he said after their International Champions Cup loss to Atletico Madrid (with reference to the preceding Juventus game), per Sky Sorts' Lyall Thomas.
"I don't think we need to go into the market to sign another centre-back."
Injury problems may make Pochettino regret that choice. But, otherwise, he is backing his players to once again reassert themselves as one of English football's best defences.
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