‘Easy to play against’ – Hoddle admits he has a major concern with Tottenham now
Glenn Hoddle has insisted that he has not been convinced by Tottenham Hotspur defensively right from the start of the season, insisting that Ange Postecoglou’s...
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Glenn Hoddle has insisted that he has not been convinced by Tottenham Hotspur defensively right from the start of the season, insisting that Ange Postecoglou’s men are just too easy to play against.
Many Spurs fans would have expected Tottenham to get stronger over the last few weeks after the return of several of their key players.
Instead, there are very real signs that the Lilywhites have regressed, with teams now seemingly learning how to counter their system.
Spurs had struggled during parts of their last two clashes against Everton and Brighton, and some of their weaknesses were once again exposed by Wolves, who took all three points from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday.
Are Tottenham becoming easy to play against?
Hoddle insisted that his former side will struggle to be consistent if they give up as many chances per game as they currently do.
Speaking after their 2-1 loss to Wolves, the Tottenham legend told Optus Sports’ Matchday Live Extra: “I love the way they play going forward. I think Ange has been brilliant in the way he’s set them up with fullbacks going in, which they missed today, Udogie and Porro didn’t play.
“So going forward, love it, but defensively I’ve always been worried this season. Every time I look at them, the goalkeeper Vicario is having to make worldies, four or five, every game. At this level, it’ll be harsh, you’ll get beat in the end.
“It was something I felt if only they could put a little bit more defence in there, a bit of work deeper, then I think they’ll solve the problem because they have got pace at the back.
“But my word, it was for me watching Spurs week in and week out, it’s something that’s easy to play against. You can get in behind them so easy and consequently they got punished today.”
Hoddle was particularly critical of the first-half goal that Tottenham conceded, questioning how the Spurs defenders allowed Jaoa Gomes to have a free header.
He said about Wolves’ opening goal: “This is ridiculous. It’s a really good header from Gomes, but at the end of the day, all the white shirts there, there is no-one attacking the ball.
“Going into a zone is one thing, someone’s got to attack the ball or pick up people. Either way, you’ve got to know which one you want to do as a coach.”
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Over the last few weeks, we have seen clear evidence that opposition managers are adapting to Postecoglou’s system and have discovered some clear weaknesses.
The Australian has not been up against coaches of this quality in his career so far and we will now have to wait and see if he is capable of adapting and perhaps making some small tweaks to his system to make up for some of those weaknesses.
While Ange will obviously not abandon his ultra-attacking philosophy or his messaging to the players (and rightly so), a sign of a great tactician is also to be able to make some slight modifications to stay one step ahead of the opposition. So, the next few weeks will be a test of the 58-year-old and his coaching staff.
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