Premier League Tactics Corner – Round 5

Two of the Premier League’s most glamorous teams showed us how to, and how not to break down a defense this weekend.

Schurrle’s Movement Unzips Manchester City

Andre Schurrle got to hang out with Thomas Muller a lot this summer and it is starting to show. The German’s quickness has been a big part of his game since he signed for the Chelsea, but he is beginning to find that he can use it without the ball at his feet by making runs in the mold of his compatriot.

En route to scoring this stunner against the Brazilians, he receives the ball from the brightest man in soccer when it comes to getting into the right place at the right time. Muller creates space with his brain, as opposed to his feet. The build up to this goal is stunningly simple, yet superb, as Muller makes a diagonal run to the corner and somehow reverses the ball into Schurrle’s path.

While we often talk about false nines and highlight smooth ankle breaking, mouth-watering dribbles, what players do off-the-ball is highly underrated, yet the vast majority of a player’s match is spent without the main piece of equipment at their feet. It might not be sexy, but a solid run can unzip an airtight defense.

A lot of forwards make vertical and direct runs that create chances for themselves and sometimes others, but its rare that a player can make a goal out of nothing out of possession.

Schurrle has the ability to dribble and at Bayer Leverkusen, he scored countless highlight-reel goals by cutting in on his right foot and unleashing a powerful strike from outside box.

Since coming into the Premier League and at the World Cup over the summer, Schurrle was forced to change his game. While the inverted dribbling excursions are by no means gone, his movement has become his most lethal asset. The German is utilizing his speed to get ahead of opponents and find passes his intelligent teammates can pick out. There are a lot of Chelsea haters out there, and their superior football smarts are just another reason to dislike them.

In the team’s opener against Burnley, he slices through the opposition’s compact defense with this sweeping run that Cesc Fabregas picks out. This is a world-class run, because it changes everything for the defense by making everything very awkward. Runs like these are not conventional and make viewers at home feel a little bit uncomfortable, because they take the defense so off guard. Lateral and diagonal movements by forwards are nothing new, but they are very much underappreciated.

Schurrle’s goal against City showcases his ability as a modern attacker – a smart footballer with high awareness and the ability to not only play, but also succeed in multiple positions. He can play as winger, false nine, and center forward, as he brings a strange and deadly skill-set to each position.

Tottenham Should Cross Less

Cross the ball one more time, Tottenham. I dare you, because as painful as it was to watch Danny Rose and Co. hoof balls into the box without any kind of penetrative movement, I have so many GIFs, my hard drive is going to crash.

In a poor attempt to unlock West Bromwich Albion, Spurs put 41 crosses into the area and were successful on nine of them (that includes nine corner kicks as well). Mauricio Pochettino used Emmanuel Adebayor as the lead striker once again, so the high number of crosses would make sense, except they only found him once. When found, the Togolese striker headed the ball away from goal. In addition, it was his only attempt of the game.

But crossing is not how Spurs are meant to play football, or at least not how spectators would envision a team with so much creativity to play.

Below are Tottenham’s crossing numbers from its first four games:

West Ham: 0/13

QPR: 3/21

Liverpool: 6/23

Sunderland 3/15

In terms of completion, the West Brom match might yield the highest success rate, but helplessly lofting the ball into a compact defense is not the best way to break it down, especially when you can’t find your target.

The proceeding clip displays Spurs at their best. Players are finding space in the middle of the pitch and making quick, incisive passes that even the most well organized defense cannot stop. A deep-defending Baggies side was tough to breakdown, but the hosts showed that they are capable of out-playing their opponent with their skill.

However, it seemed like the game plan was always to get the ball out wide and put in a cross. West Brom did play a very tight 4-4-2 and the work ethic of the two central midfielders was excellent, but Spurs also failed to find the man in the middle. 

Above, Mousa Dembele gets the ball and has a couple of options in the middle of the pitch. Craig Gardner forces the midfielder out wide and closes him down, but nobody helps the Belgian out. West Brom made it easy for Tottenham’s runners to get in space, sacrificing them to take care of the man with the ball, though it was uncharacteristic of Spurs not to help out their teammate. As Dembele is ushered out wide, the rest of the team lightly jogs toward him instead of rushing into the open space to act as an outlet.

The best summary of Spurs’ outing of frustration comes at the end of the first half. By this point in the game, they are hoping that the Baggies’ center back pairing of Joleon Lescott and Craig Dawson are just really tired of tracking runs into the area. Nevertheless, they keep on pounding it in, and this time its Christian Eriksen.

Try again, man…

The latter is a good ball, but nobody is on the end of it. Spurs played a near equal amount of crosses in each half, so no noticeable change was made at the end of the first half. If you don’t buy that the attacking midfielders and full backs were whipping balls in desperation, remember that center back Younes Kaboul whipped in not one, not two, not even three, but four crosses of his own.

Teams like West Bromwich simply sit back in these games invite crosses and then take advantage on a counter or set piece, which the Baggies did on Sunday.

After a match of constant crossing, perhaps a light bulb will go off in the heads of the Spurs team that it may not be their best form of attack when the North London derby rolls around at the weekend.