Bayern Munich Targetted Spurs Weak Link Kyle Walker-Peters

Bayern Munich targetted Kyle Walker-Peters as Spurs weak link and we were never able to find a solution to deal with it.

he had a torrid time, he couldn't stop crosses, couldn't beat his man in attacking phases and didn't put in a decent cross when he had time and space. All in all, it was a performance that showed he is not up to the standard we require of a right-back.

Bayern sent 75% of their attacks down the wings, 38% against Kyle Walker-Peters and 37% against Danny Rose.

Experienced Croatian Ivan Perišić (Fig 1 - red 14) positioned himself so he occupied Foyth (black 21), had Walker-Peters (black 16) tucking in and Eric Dier (black 15) as well. That left Kingsley Coman (red 29) free to receive the ball and attack Walker-Peters and stopping Spurs doubling upon him.

Giovani Lo Celso should have been helping out but he was often missing or simply not getting back quick enough from an attack.

Fig 1

If you think about Son Heung-min when he plays on the right, he is there helping out defensively as well. Do you recall Lo Celso putting in the same work defensively? Lamela puts in the effort too.

That is the level required, Lo Celso fell short.

Thomas Müller came on in the 27th minute, Ivan Perišić moved wide and attempted 6 crossed, the second-highest in the match in just 63 minutes.

Perišić also tucked in forcing Walker-Peters to tuck in, allowing left-back Alphonso Davies to overlap. He made another 2 crosses, the most dribbles in the game (8) and hit the post.

Oliver Skipp was brought on to allow Moussa Sissoko to move to the right in place of Lo Celso to provide greater defensive help for Walker-Peters.

Bayern would move players over that side, pulling Spurs as a defensive group across giving space on the other flank. A wide man would stay wide or attack the space in behind the full-back for a diagonal pass. The Germans switched play through Thiago, Kimmich or Alcantara.

You often hear our fans say so and so isn't any good because he passes sideways. Well, that is the job of a midfielder, Ryan Mason was very good at it because he did it at speed. The problem is when a player takes too many touches, takes too long or doesn't simply pass hard enough, instead rolling the ball out wide.

The tactic works if done at speed to catch the opposition out and exploit the space. Do it slowly and you negate all advantage. It infuriates me when I see players playing weak passes where the receiver has to wait for the ball to arrive.

It shows a wrong mindset.

Bayern Munich used a high press to stop us playing out from the back and force us long. The result was Eriksen and Moura won 1 aerial duel between them in the match against 8 won by their opponent.

Spurs could therefore not retain possession up the field, hence our 30% possession figure. Harry Kane would have been more effective but he was being given an important rest with a heavy workload to come over the Christmas period.

On we move to Wolves on Sunday, another important game as they all are in the Premier League now after our slow start.