Arsenal 2-2 Tottenham Hotspur: 5 Talking Points and Tactical Analysis

#4 Tottenham’s offensive movements cause problems

Eriksen was brilliant in the first half

Tottenham lined up in a 4-2-3-1 system on paper but as the game progressed, it became increasingly clear that they were predominantly using a 4-4-2 formation. Kane and Son played upfront whereas Eriksen and Lamela were tasked with manning the flanks.

In the first half, the aforementioned players caused Arsenal a variety of problems with their movement. For a major chunk of the half, the hosts dominated possession. At those junctures, Kane and Son regularly dropped into the channels on either flank to exploit the space vacated by the Gunners’ full-backs.

The above meant that Luiz and Sokratis had to shunt wide in order to counter the threat of the Englishman and the Korean. In turn, that created space for Eriksen and Lamela to drift in-field with the pair combining for the first goal.

In addition to the opening net-bulger, the tactic also created numerous instances where Spurs found themselves in promising attacking positions.

Though they couldn’t continue in the same vein, the perfect execution of their plans in the first half meant that they salvaged a point, despite being distinctly second best after the restart.

Through his stint as Spurs manager, Mauricio Pochettino has distinguished himself courtesy his ability to shuffle between strategies and systems, thereby adopting an approach best suited to counter the opposition. On Sunday too, he identified the chinks existing in the Arsenal armour and capitalised on them effectively.

And while Tottenham didn’t quite get the result their first-half performance warranted, they would certainly be happy to come away with a point, especially at a venue where they haven’t tasted victory since 2010.