The importance, progression and passive defense of Tottenham by Bruno Fernandes

Last week saw the return of competitive football to England after the outbreak of COVID-19.

Weeks of reflections and speculation that the season would definitely end have been over. With football returning, however, the Premier League picture looks slightly different.

The long layoff changed the depth profile of teams across the league as injured players are not eligible and available for selection.

This is especially true if you consider one of these two parts where key player Spurs and talisman Harry Kane are fit and ready to play from the first date.

While some players are back in shape, there is still a sense of uncertainty as to how the teams will perform over the remaining matches.

Form, of course, is no longer a consideration since while Manchester United was doing well in the pre-lock period, while Spurs were doing badly, there was such a gap between games that any sense of momentum can be forgotten.

Team news

Starting from the home team, as already mentioned, Kane was available for selection from the start and the England captain led the attack.

Another English international, Eric Dier, was used in the center of defense alongside Davinson Sanchez instead of in his normal position at the base of the midfield. The other key points were that there was no room in the initial lineup for the suspended Dele Alli or Tanguy Ndombele.

Manchester United started largely as planned, although there was still no place in the initial lineup for French international Paul Pogba. Bruno Fernandes is not firmly established in the role of “10” and his interaction with Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford would be the key.

What do the data tell us?

When viewing the game history through the data, the most important consideration is, of course, the score and game ended in a 1-1 draw.

What we will quickly see, however, is that the game was far more one-sided than the score suggests.

First of all we will consider the image of the expected goals (xG) of the game and, as you can see, there is no real comparison.

While both teams scored one goal each Spurs accumulated an xG of only 0.49 during the game, while United had an xG of 1.44.

While Spurs scored 10 shots on goal during the game, only two of them brought an XG or more than 0.10.

The first was the goal of Steven Bergwijn, who was the result of defensive errors and United goalkeeper. The second was a header from Heung-Min Son who was well saved by United goalkeeper David De Gea.

Compare it now with United and we see that from his 12 shots on goal four has brought an xG of 0.10 or higher.

One of these was, of course, a penalty that brought as x6 of 0.76 but there was still some sense during the clash that United was very much on the rise.

The final graph that we will use for this section is the one that measures the intensity of the pressure of each team. This measures a metric known as passes for defensive action (PPDA) with a lower score the higher the print.

As you can see there was a huge difference between the two sides in how they pushed themselves out of possession. Spurs had a PPDA during the 17.8 game, which suggests that they were passive in the defensive phase and sat in a deep and compact defensive block.

United instead have a PPDA of 7.7 and has been much more aggressive in the way it has pressed to try to win back the ball.

Interestingly, the data is supported by what we see in the field in the eye test.

Defensive systems

On paper it seems likely that both sides will take similar approaches to each other.

Each team lined up in a 4-2-3-1 but what we saw during the game showed that defensive configurations can vary from team to team regardless of the tactical setting on paper.

That the Spurs would be more passive in their defensive form should come as no surprise, given that their coach Jose Mourinho is not known as a coach who prefers a pressing style of play.

Above was a moment of the game in the second half and while United tried to build from the back we see the defensive form that Spurs tended to take out of possession.

The ball is simply moved to the right half-space and the defending player is able to exit towards the half-way line. There is no pressure on the ball from Spurs as Kane simply moves back towards his half without showing a desire to engage the ball. This corresponds to the rest of the defensive block while defending something close to 4-4-2 with Erik Lamela holding a high position.

There was no width in the midfield line while both Bergwijn and Son were hiding inside to defend themselves near the central midfielders.

United have consistently been able to access Spurs’ half court before there was an attempt to engage the ball.

This was a deliberate plan by Spurs as they tried to sit deep and then attack through fast transitions. The problem was that they were so passive that when they moved on the attack they struggled to move the players to advanced positions quickly enough.

Counter it with the way United pushed. We see above an example of United out of possession of the first half.

There are five Spurs players highlighted as they appear to be playing from behind and only three United players are involved in the press.

The first player moves to engage the ball and in doing so keeps Moussa Sissoko in his cover shadow.

We see Martial positioned centrally and has the flexibility to move to engage one of the three Spurs players while also keeping the left back, Ben Davies, in his shadow of coverage.

By pressing the ball in this way, United effectively prevented Tottenham from comfortably moving the ball from behind.

United advances the ball

Game possession statistics were weighted from 62% to 38% in favor of United, a fact which further confirms the previously stressed point that Spurs seemed to be playing in transition during the game.

What was soon evident was that United was in a much better position to be able to progress the ball effectively to advance through thirds to their opponents’ goal.

Let’s see an example of this here as United regained the ball while the Spurs were attempting to attack in their transition.

As you can see, Tottenham players are struggling to regain their defensive positioning and the man in possession is able to play a quick pass to the top line for United.

Playing the ball at Martial’s feet in this scenario there are seven Spurs players who have been completely excluded from the game.

This therefore creates an opportunity for United’s attackers to quickly isolate and attack the opponents’ baseline.

This time we see an example of how United managed to move the ball forward and this time at a time when the Spurs are placed in their defensive block.

You can see the line of four midfielders for Spurs but they are not very far apart and this creates the opportunity to access the passing lanes. This opportunity is further enhanced by the lack of pressure on the ball.

While the pass is being played on Harry Maguire, he has the option to play wide as far as Luke Shaw is advancing on the flank or through the central area where Marcus Rashford has positioned himself to receive behind the midfield line.

The importance of Bruno Fernandes

I have to raise my hands and admit I was wrong to sign United with Portuguese Portuguese midfielder Bruno Fernandes.

I thought he was a talented player, but that he would have a hard time making his way into the Premier League. This was not the case at all and has been one of the best players in the league since joining.

It was particularly important for United in this game with its intelligent movement and use of the ball.

Here we see an example of a point where Fernandes fell into deeper positions to take possession of the ball and influence the game.

He spins from slot ’10’ in a position facing the Spurs’ defensive block and when he takes possession his first thought is always to break the lines of the opposition.

This result is achieved through a perfectly weighted ball that finds Scott McTominay’s back foot and the Scottish national team is able to take possession and drive on the Spurs’ defensive line.

This time we see an example of the types of movement we see from Fernandes in the last third.

With the ball wide, the Spurs’ defense is, once again, slightly passive as they walk away and wait for Rashford to do something with the ball.

Fernandes makes a small run and is suddenly positioned between four Spurs players to receive the ball in a dangerous area on the edge of the penalty area.

These are the types of movements that United lacked before Fernandes signed.

Conclusion

In the end, there is no doubt that United will struggle to get just a 1-1 draw from what appeared to be a tough trip to north London.

They dominated the ball and were more progressive in possession and aggressive out of possession. Eventually, however, they were denied by a series of defensive errors that led to the initial goal.

These are the types of mistakes that must bHe is passed out if United want to challenge the Premier League again.

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