Harry Kane Rescues Spurs as Mauricio Pochettino Gets Tactics Right in the End

Tottenham's 2-1 win over Aston Villa at Villa Park may turn out to be a crucial moment in Spurs' season. 

"

#thfc FT 2-1 to Spurs. Huge few minutes. Defeat would have left Spurs 15th, 3pts above drop zone. Instead theyre 8th, 3pts outside the top 4

— Ben Pearce (@BenPearceSpurs) November 2, 2014"

Mauricio Pochettino's team were utterly inept in the first half. The Argentinian selected an attacking line-up but retained his two-man holding midfield. What should have been a dangerous team with a solid defensive base was unable to create chances and carved open by a team that hadn't scored in five hours of Premier League football.

In recent league matches, Pochettino's side have been solid but unspectacular and paid dearly for it. Newcastle stunned them with a pair of goals, and they were unable to respond. The West Brom defeat was virtually identical. 

With Spurs in desperate need of a win against a similarly struggling Villa side, Pochettino jettisoned the safe approach in favour of a more aggressive line-up. For the first time this season, he picked two strikers with wide players in support in an attempt to overwhelm the opposition. 

Ryan Mason and Etienne Capoue have formed an effective partnership in central midfield since the north London derby, and that duo continued against Villa. 

Unfortunately, with Villa's midfield composed of Ashley Westwood, Tom Cleverley and Carlos Sanchez, Spurs' midfield pair were outmatched. Unsure of who to mark, Capoue was lost and unable to impose himself. Cleverley and Westwood moved far more effectively from defence into attacking positions than Capoue and Mason.

Christian Eriksen, nominally posted on the flank, drifted inside in an attempt to influence play, but the imbalance that created left Danny Rose badly exposed. Rose, one of Spurs' most improved performers this season, suffered through the first half and it was from his flank that Aston Villa took the lead. 

Charles N'Zogbia found far too much space and drove a ball across goal for Andreas Weimann to open the scoring. Rose was partially at fault but Capoue and Younes Kaboul's failure to defend competently was key. 

With Villa leading 1-0 at half-time, it seemed as though Pochettino had gotten his system all wrong. 

In truth, he'd selected the right approach but the wrong personnel. Emmanuel Adebayor and Roberto Soldado had a few neat moments in the opening period but are unlikely to ever form an effective strike partnership. 

Eriksen is a wonderfully gifted player but, like Luka Modric before him, is largely wasted on the wing. 

The introduction of Lamela in place of Eriksen gave Spurs more drive and a direct threat from deeper areas. While that improved things somewhat, Villa were still in little danger. 

Harry Kane replaced Adebayor on the hour and immediately gave Spurs a greater presence in attack. 

Nacer Chadli equalised and Kane scored from a direct free-kick to give Spurs what had seemed an unlikely win. 

However, the victory should not disguise how remarkably poor Spurs were. 

A factor in Tottenham's continued struggles after midweek fixtures this season has been Pochettino's inexperience juggling competitions. He is still learning the right way to rotate his squad and got it badly wrong against Villa. 

Shifting Eriksen out wide was a serious error. The Dane is one of Spurs' best players and had been improving in recent weeks. Asking him to play out of position was foolish. Instead, Pochettino should have omitted the struggling Capoue and played Eriksen in midfield. 

Given how poorly Spurs shielded their defence, the removal of Capoue wouldn't have made them any less robust but would have added to their ability to control the ball. The error was compounded when, having replaced Eriksen with Lamela, Spurs looked desperately short of creativity. 

The omission of Kane was understandable. Pochettino is resistant to bowing to public pressure and insisted that he would select his team based on training sessions.

While he has carefully avoided building Kane up, Pochettino admitted that his impact had been significant. 

"

"Harry Kane's an important player. With a performance like the last game or today, maybe he does deserve to play more" - Mauricio Pochettino

— Premier League (@premierleague) November 2, 2014"

Former Tottenham striker Gary Lineker has often observed the quality of Harry Kane as a goalscorer. As Spurs struggled with Kane sitting on the bench, he doubled down. 

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To score goals you have to gamble with your movement and possess a real desire. I suspect Kane has such attributes. It'd be good to find out

— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) November 2, 2014"

Spurs earned their victory, but they were lucky. The referee could easily have missed Christian Benteke's raised hand against Ryan Mason and failed to send him off. 

After 10 games, the table becomes more relevant. After victory over Aston Villa, Spurs are just three points behind Arsenal in fourth, level with Liverpool and ahead of Man United. 

Spurs have rarely played well this season. In its worst moments, the defence is shambolic, and their two senior strikers have just one league goal between them, and yet Tottenham are within one win of the top four.

Pochettino should take the lesson from this match that his squad is equipped to play in a more attacking fashion. As long as he selects the right players, Spurs can open up the poorer teams. Against Arsenal and Manchester City, they've already shown they have an ability to match the bigger sides. 

Spurs' manager should be commended for recognising his mistakes and acting quickly to resolve them. Bringing Harry Kane on with 30 minutes to play gave him ample opportunity to influence the match.

Introducing Lamela at half-time was bold, but it was his corner that found Chadli for the equaliser, while fellow substitute Andros Townsend, who came on for Capoue, also made a positive impact and won the decisive free-kick. 

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This is the first time a Pochettino side has ever come from behind to win a Premier League game.

— Simon Peach (@SimonPeach) November 2, 2014"

Remarkably, Pochettino had never earned a comeback win in the Premier League before. The victory at Villa was a fortunate one but also hard-earned. Pochettino made selection errors but resolved them with good substitutions.

Crucially, Spurs won the match, meaning Pochettino can look ahead to matches against Stoke City and Hull City. Both are likely to present a similar test to Newcastle, Villa and West Brom and Pochettino must apply the lessons learned in Birmingham.