Spurs Reactive Footballers Are The Problem


Spurs Reactive Footballers Are The Problem



Spurs are low on confidence, so how do you increase it?

It is pretty clear to everyone that Spurs confidence is not what it should be, given we have just reached a Champions League final.

Calling for the sack for the man who took us there is just plain daft, it is counter-productive and assumes that a new manager, with no time to work with the players would have an immediate positive impact, which is fanciful thinking.

Firstly people should be looking for the causes and I mean the root causes that have caused this problem. 

Take a cricket stroke from a batsman. You see that his foot is not going towards the pitch of the ball, thus his eye line is nowhere near the ball, thus his actual shot is a hit and miss affair, sometimes successful, sometimes very poor.

How do you solve it? Do you simply get him to move his foot towards the ball?

No.

The root cause is his head position.

You have to get him to move his head in line with the ball, the body and feet will naturally follow.

If you simply get him to move his feet, the underlying problem of his head still remains. It would cause body weight issues and another problem would arise with the transference of weight.

Unless you address the root cause, the problem will simply manifest itself in a different way.

Now transfer that to the football field.

Why is a goal conceded?

I am immediately reminded of Kieran Trippier trying to play the ball diagonally backward to a centre-back in the centre of the field which was intercepted and the opposition went on to score a goal.

The fan on the street all blamed Trippier and had a go at him (oh how we need him now!). They were wrong.

The root cause of the problem was that he had been put into a position where he had no passes available and in a game whereby you must keep the ball (possession), he was forced to seek someone to pass to and that pass was the only option.

The opposition recognizing the position they had engineered him into through their off the ball closing down, were ready for him to make the pass and seized upon it.

The root problem, therefore, was a lack of movement by players off the ball. They were the actual culprits, that aspect needed to be addressed, rather than Trippier's decision making on this occasion.

The same problem occurs time and time again. I'll sit and watch a game and say in my head again and again, don't pass there and sure enough, a player gets played into a position, often on the touchline, where he has few options (usually no forward passing options).

Often his only option is to turn round and pass to the goalkeeper, pass it back to the guy who has given it to him and he has only passed it to him because there are no options for him or try and dribble his way out of trouble.

He loses the ball and the fans get on his back, but he should never have received the ball in the first place.

The problem was passing the ball to someone with no option and the root cause a lack of movement ahead of the ball to give passing options.

We currently have that situation with Sissoko at defensive midfield, he positions himself frequently so he can not receive the ball off the centre-back. That isn't changing so the problem of playing out from the back will remain and continue to surface game after game.

Let me quote you this from Psychology Today:
"People with low self-esteem tend to see the world as a hostile place and themselves as its victim. As a result, they are reluctant to express and assert themselves, miss out on experiences and opportunities, and feel powerless to change things. All this lowers their self-esteem still further, sucking them into a downward spiral."
For low self-esteem, substitute confidence in a footballing context.

A reluctance to express themselves, in other words always looking for the easy pass, avoiding the more difficult and therefore riskier pass that potentially reaps a greater reward.

There was an instance when we were attacking the Sheffield United box and Son had the ball, he had to point to Aurier to tell him to run in behind the full-back and when he did eventually play the ball it was easily dealt with by the defender who knew exactly what ball was going to be played.

It wasn't a bad ball, but it demonstrated that unless others are on the same wavelength then the game falls apart. Aurier should have been anticipating, seeing an opportunity and instigating a run to non-verbally show Son where he wanted the ball played.

That is proactive football, Aurier was asleep, he was playing reactive football, he was just there if he were needed basically, not looking to affect the game in a positive way at all.

Now, how many times do you see that across the field? 

How many players are looking for the opening like Son and how many are not, like Aurier?

Too many reactive players and it stops the proactive players playing, as they require the movement odd the ball the reactive players are not providing.

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proactive approach focuses on eliminating problems before they have a chance to appear and a reactive approach is based on responding to events after they have happened. 
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That has got nothing to do with playing for the manager, that is a basic fundamental you need in players. A player not playing for the manager is someone like Christian Eriksen, who has the vision to see passes but has hardly played any this season. he is hiding, passing the buck and not looking to make much of a difference.

Thus a huge piece of the creation has been taken from the team. We have been waiting for Giovani Lo Celso to be fit so we can integrate him, so he can develop within the team and replace that creative element. That takes time, it took James Maddison time at Leicester City or Ross Barkley time at Chelsea.

I don't believe Pochettino has lost the dressing room like some are suggesting on Twitter, I think it is a culmination of circumstances working against us, some of our own making, such as not selling Toby Alderweireld when we had the chance.

Our gamble at right-back isn't currently working. Serge Aurier believes he has no competition so he has no incentive to perform, Foyth is still new in the role and is a defensive player rather than an attacking full-back in the ilk of Walker and Trippier.

That reduces our attacking threat and creativity in the final third.

If a player isn't going to sign a new contract then he has to be sold with two years left on his contract, we should not be in the situation we are with Christian Eriksen where he couldn't care less where we finish.

Danny Rose should have been sold. A player with mental health issues, who tried to leave and wants more pay (even though nobody is willing to pay it) isn't much use to us. If you want more pay you sign a new contract and commit yourself to the club, simple.

You don't give pay raises to people who are not committed.

My views on Victor Wanyama are well known, we should never have bought him, but I guess he did us a job for one season.

But this isn't about individuals, it is about how we have approached evolving the team and we have got it wrong.

Do we then throw in the towel and start again or do we learn from our mistakes and try and grow together? 

I'm in the latter group, many of you are in the former.