Tottenham Hotspur endured a woeful midfield display against Chelsea on Sunday.
On the chalkboard
Spurs were outplayed by the Blues in a vital London derby, losing 2-0 to a team that had more energy and more desire at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Jose Mourinho’s men had a number of struggles throughout the game – Paulo Gazzaniga wildly conceded a penalty while Son Heung-Min was sent off for lashing out at Antonio Rudiger – but their chief concern came in midfield.
Per WhoScored, Spurs had just 45.5% possession and four shots on goal; they were unable to play their way through the Chelsea press.
They had a passing accuracy of 79% but they did not have players with the ability to burst forward and play the ball as they needed.
Eric Dier is a defensive midfielder by trade while Moussa Sissoko primarily collects the ball in the centre of the pitch and then offloads it.
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They did not have a player who could get his foot on it and dictate the tempo.
Mourinho attempted to change that by bringing Christian Eriksen on but he had just a 74% pass completion rate and did not manage to lay on a key pass.
Throughout the game, Chelsea were able to pass their way through. Spurs couldn’t.
Bring Ndombele in
Tanguy Ndombele needs to be playing regularly.
He was introduced as a late substitute but he had a 100% pass completion rate and the 22-year-old continually looked to push forward from central midfield.
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This is a player who averages 1.7 dribbles per game in the Premier League and 0.7 key passes. Sissoko’s numbers, by comparison, are 1.6 and 0.5; Dier’s are 0.1 and 0.6.
One feels that potentially pairing the two Frenchmen together could be exactly what is required as, on Sunday, Spurs were sorely lacking in midfield.
They cannot carry on in this way.
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