Glenn Hoddle says he was concerned by the kind of tactics that Ange Postecoglou employed in the final half an hour of the London derby against Chelsea two weeks ago.
Most managers would shut shop and defend with all their players behind the ball if their side gets reduced to nine men.
However, Postecoglou asked his side to continue pressing the Blues and for Tottenham’s defence to push up even further in order to give his side the best chance of creating chances.
The ploy almost worked as Son Heung-min and Rodrigo Bentancur had chances to equalise before the away side scored a couple of late goals to put some gloss on the scoreline.
The likes of Jamie Carragher admitted that they had never seen anything like that before and praised Postecoglou for his bravery (Sky Sports).
However, Hoddle suggested that the approach was not well thought out, insisting that it was only a matter of time before Chelsea broke the offside trap.
The Tottenham legend told talkSPORT: “I have got a few little suspicions. I was worried when we went down to nine men, playing the way we did. If that’s what Ange wants to do then fine.
“But I’ve been in football long enough – you cannot put pressure on the ball if you’ve only got nine men on the pitch. Sometimes it’s horses for courses, isn’t it? I’m not trying to be negative.
“Of course, I was hoping Spurs were going to see it through. Although I spent three great years at Chelsea, I’m a Spurs man and I’ve supported Spurs since eight years of age.
“But I was sitting there thinking, ‘Any team in the world – even a youth team – would have broken that down’. That’s how I see it anyway. But it’s positive if Ange is saying, ‘No, we’re going on the front foot’.
“He’s thinking that by putting the back four on the halfway line, he’s going to be able to apply a bit of pressure and he’s going to have players forward. Son had half a chance at the end to make it 2-2.
“That’s Ange’s theory and it’s very positive, but I’ve been in football long enough to know they’re going to get broken down. It was just a matter of Chelsea timing their runs.”
Spurs Web Opinion
While the tactics did seem a little bonkers, the reality is that it almost worked, with Chelsea looking quite rattled at times.
I think Ange’s intention was to send a message to his players that he always wants them to be positive no matter the situation. That tactic was aimed as much at fostering that mindset as it was at getting a result in that game.
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