Ange’s profiling issues (🧵) There’s lots of talk about who to blame in Spurs’ current state, and if I’m honest I don’t think anyone is blameless, owners, manager and players.

However one of the key issues I think is how some of our players are being profiled.

A team needs to fit together like a jigsaw, where players’ strengths are maximised and their weaknesses are minimised.

This thread will explore some of the key players who I believe aren’t being used correctly.

Mathys Tel - The game-changing attacker (🧵) On deadline day Ange managed to persuade one of Europe’s most talented teenagers to leave Bayern for some much needed game time.

I first watched Tel in the U17 Euro’s where he featured in an incredible French side including the likes of Doué and WZE. The first thing that struck me was his presence, a real athlete, who did everything with confidence and belief. I fell in love with his style then and fast forward a few years and he’s joined Spurs.

This thread will explore his abilities in 3 main facets:

⁃Dribbling/Creating separation
⁃Chance creation
⁃Goal scoring

But will also add some other key details of his style of play.

We will then look at where he fits in this Ange side and why he is such a huge upgrade on Spurs’ attack.

(One thing to note for this thread is that most of his recent mins I’ve watched have come out wide left)

Full-throttle attack, aggressive high-press, goals galore but 10th?

Going from the sublime to the subpar from game to game, or even within games.

Spurs have an issue with tempo. How do we solve it without betraying Ange’s principles?

🧵 @SeanLofting Out of possession, Spurs are not quick enough to change their pressing approach when opposition find solutions.

So often the Spurs setup blows teams away in the early minutes, but not often enough does it sustain for 90, or even 30 mins. Chelsea and Brighton exploited this best, obviously. But what did they do?

Two main things. They didn’t panic and they created and exploited a huge gap between defence and attack.

Finding Tottenham’s Number 6

(Thread 🧵)
First off, it’s important to understand the context as to why this is such a pressing issue.

Essentially, the problem with our current number six setup is that, whilst both Bissouma and Bentancur certainly do have some of the key traits needed to carry out the role, they’re either missing another or failing to show them on a consistent basis.

How Spurs should approach the transfer window from a Director of Football perspective?

How do you win now, but also win the future? Will we ever have a summer without the word ‘rebuild’ mentioned?

A 🧵 on the realities of Spurs’ summer and how a DOF would approach it. The transfer window is here and it brings a series of endless rumours. We no longer have the chaos of Deadline Days on Sky Sports, instead replaced by hourly tweets from Fabrizio on the discussions between clubs. But why is there less chaos?

Quite simply, clubs have got better at planning for the long-term. Scouting has got better at the top level. All big clubs have a club and team philosophy they will be building towards and this will have to be managed over the short and long term. As managers come and go, the game model should remain relatively consistent to avoid a team overhaul every year or two.

The role of the Director of Football is to ensure the first team and all the aspects of the club that feed into this are all pulling in the same direction and build for the long-term future of the club.

Spurs do not have a Director of Football, our previous one is serving a worldwide football ban. We do have a ‘Technical Director’ which is similar in many ways. Johan Lange joined in October 2023 and his remit is recruitment, analytics and talent identification across the senior and academy teams.

The remit and title of this type of role varies from club to club. What is important is that Spurs have one, and that they work beyond the first team.

Spurs have an issue in creating chances vs compact blocks and an issue in defending quick counter attacks.

What if I told you there is a way we can go some way to solving both issues with one tweak?

The answer: Long-Range Shots

🧵 by @SeanLofting After Van De Ven and Porro both scored from range for Spurs to secure victory against Nottingham Forest there seemed to be a shift in focus in our attacking play.

Our openness on the counter makes this tactic more important, as shown by some of the goals conceded vs Newcastle and Arsenal.

This isn’t just a Spurs problem, but is a consequence of changes in tactical trends that more possession dominant teams face regularly.

The Kulusevski Conundrum

A 🧵 exploring some of the key questions about our talented Swedish international and how we can maximise his skillset.

Is he an Angeball winger, is he a winger at all and parallels to a Manchester City superstar.

By @SeanLofting Before we get into the analysis, let this be clear that Dejan Kulusevski is one of Tottenham’s best and most important players. He would be worth £60-80m if we sold him, and I don’t think we should even consider it.

He also comes across as a fantastic person, as shown recently in his player tribune. Some players just get what playing for Tottenham means. For those who grew up with the club like King, Kane and Skipp it’s second nature. Kulu fully understands what it means to play for Tottenham. Just like Son, Romero, Richarlison and in previous generations of this team, Lamela and Van Der Vaart.

At 23 years-old but with the maturity of a seasoned veteran, he should be a key part of this exciting new era for Spurs. How he is used, and the players bought around him though needs to be planned in a way to maximise Kulusevski’s potential.

Profiling Alfie Dorrington (🧵)

✍️ @samw1t By now the name Alfie Dorrington should be well-known to most Spurs fans with even the slightest interest in the academy, and is one we have already discussed plenty here on Lilywhite Lab.

Lucas Bergvall report.

(🧵) Tottenham made waves on a relatively quiet transfer deadline day by beating Barcelona to the signing of young Djurgarden midfielder Lucas Bergvall, announced on his 18th birthday. For most Spurs fans, getting one over one of the largest institutions in world football was exciting in itself, but it begs the question; what makes the Swede so highly sought after?

🤔 What to do with Spurs’ peripheral players?

This detailed long-read (15 minutes) explains and assesses the futures of some of Spurs' squad members who find themselves at a crossroads.

🧵 Thread written by @FootballOllie. #THFC #COYS A quick look at which Spurs players have made the most appearances this season will tell you that Oliver Skipp has featured more than Micky van de Ven, James Maddison, Giovani Lo Celso, and Rodrigo Bentancur. In actuality however, most Spurs fans will tell you that the locally-born 23-year-old is far from one of the team's more important players, with some even arguing his future should lie elsewhere.

The same can be said about the enthusiastic Emerson Royal, who has made more appearances than Skipp this season, and subsequently more than Yves Bissouma and Brennan Johnson too.

Sure, Spurs have been plagued by an extraordinarily extensive injury list to many of the key players mentioned, but that doesn’t detract from the supporters' conflicted feelings of distrust and apprehension towards many of the club’s players on the edge.

🇸🇳Pape Matar Sarr - Tottenham's Rising Star🌟

📈Background - The Breakthrough

🧠Mentality

🧩Impact under Postecoglou - A Tactical Breakdown

(🧵A detailed thread by @TravisLevison21) It’s been a hectic few weeks for Pape Matar Sarr.

First, just nine minutes into his final game for Spurs before travelling to Ivory Coast to represent his nation at the African Cup of Nations (AFCON), he scored his second goal for the club, putting them 1-0 up against Bournemouth with a brilliantly low driven strike from outside the box into the bottom left corner.

Only 23 minutes later though, he was walking off the pitch with his head in his hands and in tears, being substituted off for Oliver Skipp after feeling a some discomfort in his hamstring.

His teammates gathered around him and fans applauded not only in sadness that Sarr could miss out on AFCON, but that Spurs could possibly be losing out on another pivotal member of the squad through injury.

This wasn't just anyone either, but one of the best performing and most exciting talents they have on their hands.

🌍 The real impact of AFCON and the AFC Asian Cup on Spurs this month.

🧵 Thread by @FootballOllie #THFC #COYS There has been a lot of talk about how depleted Spurs will be over the coming month with the arrival of the African Cup of Nations and of the AFC Asian Cup, with Spurs losing three key, first team players to the mid-season international tournaments.

Pape Matar Sarr, Yves Bissouma and club captain, Son Heung-min.

Lots of discourse around Brennan currently.

Here are my thoughts 💭 :

He’s a player with big potential but who is still pretty raw. Unfairly for him, I think the criticism comes a lot around the price tag because there were probably more refined players on the market at that price.

I understand the criticisms and frustrations. I share some of those.

However with the media reports around the deal, Ange knew he was getting a project player despite the high price. And FWIW his output at least has been pretty strong since his arrival… He has fantastic fundamental qualities ✅:

- Absolutely rapid burst, which he can sustain over long distances. This makes him a powerful runner when he has space.

- An impressive ability to take the ball into his stride in difficult circumstances. His first touches are often brilliant.

- When not given time to think he can flash great crosses across the face of goal.

🧵 Timo Werner: Why Spurs, and why now?

✍️ Thread by @TravisLevison21 and @FootballOllie Timo Werner was not the name Spurs fans hoped and expected to see reported as the first arrival of this January window.

It is no doubt a link that has understandably split opinion amongst the fan base, with many supporters only associating him with a troubled spell at Chelsea.

However in this thread we will explore how he has performed since his return to RB Leipzig, what he offers, and unpack why this move might make sense.

How do we solve Spurs’ lack of control?

(Mini-thread 🧵) My friend @hugoolul just made a great point to me regarding the Werner deal.

And that is that we need to get much better and baiting the press. With our front 3, we have pace and chaos which can be devastating under the right circumstances.

The issue is we force the ball to them too quickly and too often, meaning lots of turnovers and causing constant defensive transitions. Our games become too basketball like.

Tottenham’s front 3 issues 💭.

(A thread 🧵) I do think it is clear that our attack is the weakest part of our team when everyone is available.

None of them seem to be the perfect role fit for our system, which is the complete opposite of elsewhere in the team.

Let’s explore this further…

🏟️ Tottenham Hotspur vs Everton preview.

🤔 Strengths, weaknesses and what to expect from Saturday.

🧵 Thread written by @FootballOllie Tommorrow's match against Everton, Spurs’ first Saturday 15:00 kick-off since their late comeback over Sheffield United back in September, is not the same assuring and comfortable fixture that we imaged it might be a few weeks ago.

Seemingly fuelled by the 10 point deduction that sent them crashing back down into the relegation zone, Everton have responded heroically, and are currently on a remarkable run of four consecutive victories, all without conceding.

In fact, since their bruising derby defeat to Liverpool in October, the Toffees have won six of their eight Premier League matches and so will come into the Saturday's match with their tails up.

Rumours about Conor Gallagher to Spurs are intensifying now and a move for the Chelsea man could now be possible...

So here’s some thoughts on what he could bring to Spurs and whether we actually need him right now🤔👀:

(Thread🧵) Out of Possession/pressing 🔨:
It may seem like a simple strength but Gallagher’s off-ball work is remarkable. Always looking to intensely close down the opposition and win the ball back for his side anywhere on the field, knowing how to intelligently curve his runs and force opponents into certain areas of the pitch.

He can do this from anywhere on the field too, which makes him a great fit for Ange’s 442/4411 pressing system, and means he likely wouldn’t take much time to adapt either, as he’d be able to either step up from midfield to press the backline as one of the front 2 (like Maddison) or sit off as one of the more reserved 8’s and man-mark opposing midfielders (much like Sarr).

These traits also suits Spurs’ high pressing and front-foot style, as they not only help his side regain possession and create high turnovers, but are vital when counter-pressing after losing the ball, and would enable Spurs to better sustain pressure on their opponents in the final third.

With rumours hotting up for Jean-Clair Todibo, here’s what you need to know about the Frenchman 🇫🇷:

(Thread 🧵) Front foot defender 🗡️:

Todibo reminds me very much of Romero in the way he defends currently.

He loves to step into midfield to meet the opponent before they can turn and nick the ball.

He’s strong in the challenge but times his tackles well.

With this style there are obviously times he can be caught out leaving space behind, but it’s a risk worth taking because of his physical capabilities and anticipation.

Also there’s times just like Romero, he oversteps the mark, although I don’t think it’s to the same level as the Argentinian.

Also this is the exact way Ange likes his players to defend, to snuff out transitions and sustain pressure in the opposition half.

🧠 The Psychology of ‘Angeball’

✍️ This long-read (10 mins) thread takes a deep-dive into our manager’s approach to football, people and life.

⚽️ There is so much to learn from Ange Postecoglu that goes beyond his tactics which often gets missed.

🧵 by @SeanLofting We all know that it’s full throttle attacking football. We all know the full backs invert as attacking midfielders. We all know we will press high and keep a high line under any scenario.

But why is it so different to others? Why is there a lack of pragmatism? Why these tactics?

What would Samuel Iling-Junior bring to Spurs?

A pure old school winger who despite being left footed prefers to play on the left.

The Englishman is just 20 but has already showed glimpses of a top player at Juventus. Pros:

- Physicality is strong. He’s not only quick but also strong, making him hard to knock off the ball in duels.
- Ball manipulation and footwork are very good, he’s able to fool opponents when dribbling at them.
- Can carry well from deep.
- Good crossing ability, where he wraps his foot around the ball well.