“Insane tactics at 9v11, but I fell in love.”
London derby between Tottenham and Chelsea on the 7th, with Cristian Romero sent off in the 33rd minute and Destiny Udogie in the 10th minute. Outnumbered 9 to 11, Tottenham coach Ange Postecoglou didn’t drop his lineup. 캡틴토토
He ordered a high line, with eight players, excluding the goalkeeper, starting above the halfway line in defense. In the end, they lost 1-4 to Chelsea’s Nicholas Jackson, who scored a hat trick, but after Udogie was sent off in the 10th minute of the second half, they were outnumbered for more than 20 minutes. “We will never change our attacking spirit and philosophy,” Postecoglou declared when asked about the bold move. With both of Jackson’s goals coming in second-half stoppage time, there was talk that the outcome could have been different if he had played a different game plan, and soccer pundits such as Martin Cairn and Chris Sutton were on hand to discuss the incredible “high line” and gutsy tactics the Spurs boss pulled off at the worst possible time.
Martin Cairn said, “I can’t believe what I saw. It caused problems,” said Martin Cairn. “The reason Tottenham were able to stay in the game for so long without conceding six or seven goals was because of a series of poor decisions by Chelsea.” “Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino’s failure to break down Postecoglou’s high line before the 75th minute could have been problematic.”
“Postecoglou kept his players downfield and pressed, trying to set up offside traps. What Chelsea needed was a good kill pass and a perfectly timed breakdown of the back four, but the truth is that neither Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg nor Eric Dier are quick defenders. They made some sparkling saves at times and Vicario made some good saves, but it was only a matter of time before they conceded,” he recalled. “I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, but Chelsea were struggling for a goal. Pochettino was a mess on the touchline. He wanted the right passes and well-timed shots, so he tried to move Palmer into the center to distribute the ball, while Tottenham’s high line tried to get close to him. In the end, Chelsea won a hard-fought victory in the second half when Tottenham’s stamina was depleted.”
Chris Sutton confessed to being a fan, saying, “There was a method to this madness. You might think it’s crazy, but I was hooked,” he said, confessing his fandom. “I’ve never seen such madness in a team of nine. But there was a method to the madness,” he said. “Postecoglou has a firm belief in how he wants his team to play. I remember watching Celtic losing 0-5 to Real Madrid at the Bernabeu and still sending seven players into the box to try and score,” he said. “The philosophy is that it’s important to stay positive and think about the bigger picture. That’s what we saw in the Tottenham-Chelsea game. Spurs were two players short of Chelsea, but everyone gave it their all until the last minute.”
“Spurs had two options after going down to nine men: sit deep in their own half and wait for Chelsea to attack, or try to score on the counter-attack themselves,” he said. “Spurs did have chances, but only because they were brave enough to drop their line. Spurs were also looking for the offside trap, and every time Chelsea played an overlapping pass behind the Spurs defense, goalkeeper Vicario was ready to sweep.” “It’s not the traditional way for an outnumbered team to play in football, but I enjoyed it nonetheless, and so did the Tottenham fans. It’s not often that a team that loses 1-4 at home to a rival gets a standing ovation. Knowing that Pochettino’s Chelsea had only just sealed the win in second-half stoppage time, the fans appreciated the manager’s bravery,” said Sutton, who acknowledged Postecoglou’s brave challenge. “You might think it’s crazy, but I’ll admit I’m hooked,” Sutton said.
