Film Focus: How Tottenham's Defence Crumbled Against Ruthless Manchester City

In what can only be described as a statement of intent towards their Premier League rivals, Manchester City announced themselves as the team to beat in the race for the league title this season—smashing Tottenham Hotspur 6-0.

Few expected City to ever lose the fixture to Andre Villas-Boas' side but nobody—not even Manuel Pellegrini—could have predicted the onslaught that would follow.

The Citizens roamed free in the attacking third; Tottenham simply crumbled.

Let's break down the film and see just how the North Londoners' defence got it so wrong against City's ruthless attack and what they can most improve on.

Before we start to rip completely into Tottenham's performance against City, it must be noted that they weren't actually all that bad in parts of this match—particularly in the first half. Between Jesus Navas' instinctive finish after 14 seconds to the second goal after 30-odd minutes, Spurs played good possession football and actually managed to create several half-chances.

Sandro and Paulinho both had a lot of touches in the middle of the park, and they forced the Citizens—who were leading at home—to drop very deep into defence.

However, what Spurs didn't have was urgency in attack. Their midfield was too slow moving the ball between the lines, and that allowed City to sit back and snuff out whatever chances they tried to create.

Roberto Soldado is a poacher, not a creator, so Spurs needed to move the ball quickly to him if they were going to utilize his strengths. Instead, they opted to push the ball around their defensive midfield while allowing City's defensive line to get completely set up.

They allowed City to press back and ensure that there was no space for Spurs to find Soldado, and that there was no way they could get it into the final third at all.

Perhaps this was to do with the absence of Christian Eriksen; Lewis Holtby was noticeably slower than what Soldado needs, but this was not just an individual thing. Tottenham were not fast enough to move the ball forward against City's defence—which has definitely been suspect this year against fast-moving attacks—and they struggled in the final third because of that.

City, however, didn't have the same struggles.

Their attacks were quick and sharp and they proved lethal. There was no pressing and building from Yaya Toure and David Silva like we have come to expect from City; this was fast and direct, and it put pressure on Spurs' defence so that it ultimately crumbled beneath.

What City did that Tottenham didn't do was get between the lines at all.

Look at this chance for Yaya Toure late in the match—after they had already scored five—for a classic example of what we mean. Tottenham have their defensive line and their midfield line, and City have Toure and Negredo running free in between them both.

Fortunately for the Londoners, Toure's shot just fizzes over the bar in this instance, but what it showed was the benefits of moving the ball quickly up field in attack.

Especially coming from a wide position, a quick attack pushes a defensive line back more often than not, and perhaps catches out a midfielder or two in their willingness to drop back in defence. That's a basic understanding, no doubt, and there's much more to it than that but in essence, the speed is key—and it's what City showed to an otherwise sluggish Tottenham attack.

City pressed quickly; Tottenham looked to try and break them open when the reality is that they don't have the players or personnel for that. They've bought strong in the summer window to replace Gareth Bale, but what they have is speed and skill on the ball.

Spurs need to start using that in quicker, more direct, attacks.

Three Goals Worth Noting

As much as the 6-0 drubbing was an attacking masterclass from Manchester City, it was as much about Tottenham's capitulation at the back. Their defence was leaking goals from relatively simply errors, and with several goals in particular all down to errors that really should have been avoided.

Here's three worth noting in particular as large-scale defensive mistakes.

1': Jesus Navas, Manchester City 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur

City pressed Hugo Lloris into an error which drew about two shots on target and one goal in under 15 seconds, and while the goalkeeper is certainly to blame for the woeful clearance, fault must also lie with the defence as a whole.

They didn't show the urgency required to deal with the error, and allowed Jesus Navas too much space to run on to the rebound and fire home.

When Aguero picks up the ball, both Younes Kaboul and Jan Vertonghen are close enough to the winger. But when Navas breaks through on goal, they remain stationary.

Vertonghen is slow tracking back on his man; Kaboul slow getting into the space.

Navas simply wanted the ball more, and that opening spell of play from the Londoners' defence set the tone for what was going to be an afternoon laden with defensive struggles. 

 

34': Sandro (OG), Manchester City 2-0 Tottenham Hotspur

Samir Nasri gets into a good attacking position down the left flank but is being marked by Kyle Walker well, so he opts to cut back inside. It's a two-on-two for City—which is a dangerous prospect already—but look at the woeful marking employed by both Kaboul and Michael Dawson.

Neither are goal-side, and so when the ball is played in to Aguero, the two defenders are forced to switch men in a desperate attempt to try and cover their mistake.

That allows Negredo time to peel off to the top of the six-yard box and score.

40': Aguero, Manchester City 3-0 Tottenham Hotspur

Words cannot even begin to describe how frustrated and angry Villas-Boas must have been with this goal. Simply put, it should never ever have happened.

As Pablo Zabaleta picks the ball up out wide, the options ahead are limited.

Navas has pushed in field a little so Vertonghen can push up on to the overlapping defender and shut down the angle, knowing and expecting that the man inside—in this case Erik Lamela—will be able to cover the run of Navas.

Vertonghen picks up Zabaleta, and the defender plays down the line—something which should have brought about a change of possession for Lamela.

Except that the winger didn't track Navas back at all.

Instead, Navas gets ahead of Lamela and Vertonghen is now forced to turn on his heels and sprint back to goal. He looks out of position—because he is to some extent—but the real man at fault in all of this was Lamela, who didn't pick up Navas when he made his run.

Never mind, the chance will be stopped. Right?

It's key to note here how isolated Aguero is this whole time. In the opening image, he and Kaboul were a long way from the covering central midfielders—which was fine given that there wasn't really a chance brewing at all—but now that Navas is away, Tottenham need to close in on the striker now.

To their credit, this is something the Londoners do well (as shown below).

Sandro and Walker arrive to the top of the box perfectly as the cross comes in. Together, they have not only accounted for Negredo's run but they've also positioned themselves to secure any rebound or half-clearance that might fall their way.

Indirectly, they've also freed up Dawson from marking Negredo and allowed the central defender to push on to Kaboul's shoulder and help guard Aguero.

But the communication simply isn't there.

Kaboul—most likely thinking that Dawson is close behind him—takes up a line in front of the near post to try and shut down a cross. Aguero is in line with the near post while Dawson is essentially in no man's land at this point, all on his own in line with the penalty spot.

He isn't marking anyone, and he certainly doesn't need to mark the space either.

What he needs to do here is push on to the shoulder of Aguero and give Kaboul confidence to shut down the angle and potential cross even more. Instead, he puts Kaboul in two minds—which eventually leads to a half-hearted clearance and bad line—and gives Aguero a chance that he isn't going to miss.

Especially not in the form that he's in this season.

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