Tottenham Talk on Sunday 15th Aug
Tottenham Talk on Sunday 15th Aug
Well it is here, matchday.
Romero (recovered from injury), Gill and obviously Gollini will all be in the matchday squad.
You'll all want to know if Kane is in the squad, well his has never and would never refuse to train or play so unless he wants to show everyone that was false, he has no choice but to make himself available and leave the decision down to Nuno.
Dwight Espinoza bio says he is a Sky Sports journalist.
The blog that brings you something different, that makes you think of things in a different way, Tottenham Hotspur Blog News (THBN) is today inspired by an article I read, that make me think about our pressing game.
Enjoy.
Using Data in Football
- 2% of corners result in a goal
- In-swinging corners create far more goals than out-swinging corners, so should you have a different corner taker for each side of the pitch?
- Burnley scored 5 goals from 29 chances created by in-swinging corners
- West Ham created as many chances with both types of corner, but scored more (5) with in-swingers.
The statistical data is there, Spurs should latch onto it.
The sort of Opta data that is available these days is astounding and every club should have a data analyst scouring the data, not just for trends, but to improve individual players.
For example, Thomas Partey (Arsenal) had 25 shots from open play last season and didn't score with a single one, yet had 3.92 passing options on average, when he chose to have a shot.
You would deduce from that, that taking the option to shoot was in most instances the wrong one for the team.
He either needs to improve his decision making or his shooting.
Another example, Rúben Neves (Wolves) who had 50 shots from open play last season and scored once, while having 3.84 alternative passing options per shot.
Again, like Partey, his decision making in the final third is poor.
I highlight those two as the worst examples in the Premier League last season.
Pressing statistics showed Pablo Fornals and Tomáš Souček (both West Ham) behind Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United).
These two were a big part of the reason West Ham United did so well last season so that is where we need to improve drastically.
Spurs Successful Press Percentage figures for last season (successful equates to winning the ball back within 5 seconds of a press).
I have compared the top figures with the Manchester United ones which show they had a far more successful pressing game than we did.
Tottenham Hotspur Players v Manchester United Players
Toby Alderweireld 36.6% - Eric Bailly 40%
Tanguy Ndombele 33.5% - Luke Shaw 38%
Harry Winks 32.3% - Harry Maguire 35.1%
Dávinson Sánchez 31.6% - Victor Lindelöf 34.9%Giovanni Lo Celso 31.4% - Paul Pogba 33.1%
Moussa Sissoko 31% - Alex Telles 32.4%
Serge Aurier 29.2% - Aaron Wan-Bissaka 32.3%
Eric Dier 28.9% - Nemanja Matić 32%
Sergio Reguilón 28.9% - Fred 31.3%Japhet Tanganga 28.9% - Scott McTominay 30.7%
Pierre-Emile Højbjerg 28.7% - Donny van de Beek 30.5%Dele Alli 26.6%
Steven Bergwijn 26.1%
Joe Rodon 25.6%
Harry Kane 25.3%
Lucas Moura 24.2%
Heung-min Son 22.9%
Ben Davies 22.8%
Matt Doherty 20.4%
Squad Totals: 28% - 29.6% (5871 presses - 5041)
Opposition Totals: 30.5% - 27.5% (5463 presses - 6071)
I don't need to list all the Man Utd players, you can clearly see the difference in pressing success and the success teams have in pressing us, something I have continually highlighted that we are poor at passing our way out of.
This season, under Nuno Espirito Santo we need to see some improvement as a team and as individuals.
Using our figures, a 3% difference is massive over a season, it's Spurs losing the ball an extra 163.89 times!
Couple that with Manchester United winning the ball (using their figures) an extra 82.14 times.
Combined, that Manchester United having the ball 246 times a season more than us, simply by pressing and passing out of a press.
This has become an even more vital statistic with the ridiculous advent of goal-kicks that get passed it to a centre-back standing level with the 6-yard box.
It stands to reason, if you are not very good at beating a press, don't let the opposition press you around your own area, it's asking for trouble.
How are Spurs Going To Play
How are Spurs going to play this season under Nuno Espirito Santo has probably been speculated at by every fan and every pundit.
To understand that, we have to look at the type of player being signed and looked at.
We have seen some of this in pre-season where we dropped off Arsenal and kept our two banks which made us more difficult to break down than earlier pre-season games.
Centre-back has been recognised as an area that needs urgent attention, it needs an upgrade and in Cristian Romero we certainly have that.
You have heard me talk about proactive and reactive players before, well, Romero is an example of a proactive centre-back, one who looks to win the ball back.
In Serie A last season, of all the centre backs who played 500 minutes or more, Romero ranked 1st for ball recoveries, 2nd for interceptions and 3rd (68%) for aerial duels contested, when the centre-back league average was 58.9%.
The Argentinian doesn't just clear the ball (he was 80th in the league for clearances), he starts attacks.
The Argentinian doesn't just clear the ball (he was 80th in the league for clearances), he starts attacks.
Romero looks for his side to retain possession, he finished 5th highest in Serie A for open play possessions started. That tells you he looks for a teammate to pass to rather than a long hopeful ball upfield or simply a clearance.
He played central in a back three in Italy, which suggests to me that may be the long term goal Paratici and Daniel Levy decided upon before finding a coach that would embrace that style and be able to deliver the improvement necessary.
He played central in a back three in Italy, which suggests to me that may be the long term goal Paratici and Daniel Levy decided upon before finding a coach that would embrace that style and be able to deliver the improvement necessary.
You can be sure that was totally discussed before Paratici was appointed and that it wasn't left to a new Head Coach to decide.
Nuno is having to adapt to the club requirements rather than walk into a club and say we are going to play this way.
It's more we will play this way, within the parameters you have set me and with the players you provide me with.
With that agreed, Daniel Levy has taken a back seat and let Fabio Paratici get on with it.
That is what a successful boss does, he surrounds himself with the experts he needs in the areas where he doesn't have expertise himself.
The art of leadership is knowing where to get the answers and coordinating everything rather than trying to do it all yourself because you don't trust anyone else.
We look to be buying and looking at wingers who run with the ball, already Bergwijn has tried to take on his man far more often than he was last season, when he seemed to be an extra defender.
They like to call it Possession Value (PV) now, but I have always called it end product, what is a players end product, it was a question I always posed about Lamela, whenever he looked good.
Looking good is useless if you don't deliver something positive for your team, looking good is just being a show pony for the crowd and to boost your ego.
Dele has gone from someone who delivers to more of a show pony and needs to return to the guy who delivers again.
Moura needs greater output, Bergwijn needs greater output and statistically in Nuno's Wolves side that came from wingers who dribbled, hence the signing of Bryan Gil.
Son scored more Premier League goals than any other player after running with the ball, he was our most successful dribbler with an end product, usually from the left.
Will Son play more centrally with Gil on the left?
I suspect our wing-backs will be very important and we will look to build attacks through them rather than through the centre and in Reguilón we have someone who can put in a decent cross.
He received 257 passes from Højbjerg, more than any other player.
Last season playing on loan at Norwich City, Oliver Skipp predominantly linked up with Max Aarons on the right so could he compliment the Danish man.
We'll see what happens today but Spurs are building and Rome wasn't built in a day.
Well that's it folks.
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2 comments
Best wishes to all and hope for a good entertaining performance
Bob