Five key stats from Week 17 in the Premier League - Featuring record-breaking striker

Tactical Titbits

Tim Sherwood gave us a suggestion of his preferred formation during Tottenham Hotspur’s 2-1 loss to West Ham United in the Capital One Cup quarter-final on Wednesday, however not many expected him to deploy the same formation against a possession oriented Southampton at St. Mary’s. How wrong we were.

Not only did Sherwood deploy the 4-4-2 formation, but he went with an imaginative midfield quartet of Gylfi Sigurðsson, Mousa Dembélé, Christian Eriksen and Erik Lamela, with Emmanuel Adebayor partnering Roberto Soldado in attack. Adebayor and Soldado aren’t known for their relentless pressing, tracking back and general harassment of opposition defenders, so Sherwood’s tactical strategy certainly raised some eyebrows.

It was an all-out attacking approach from Tottenham; a risky decision when facing the opposition’s 4-2-3-1 formation – outnumbered in central midfield, 3 v 2. Indeed, it only took 13 minutes for Adam Lallana to open the scoring. The 25-year-old midfield roamed into the available space in front of Spurs’ defence – defensive protection that’s not naturally available when utilising a 4-4-2 – span past Vlad Chiriche? and rifled the ball into the bottom corner.

Lallana was a constant menace throughout the attacking third.Tottenham looked menacing when advancing towards Southampton’s goal; an attacking potency that was absent at times under André Villas-Boas’ management. The 4-4-2 allows the strikers to find each other within close proximity, receiving the ball, turning and running at defenders with the knowledge that a passing option is frequently available should they need it. Indeed, Adebayor and Soldado connected superbly, with the latter supplying an inch perfect cross for his striker partner to score from close range shortly after 24 minutes.

A final word regarding Southampton’s struggles when facing the 4-4-2 formation.

José Mourinho switched to this particular formation at half-time during Chelsea’s 3-1 victory over the Saints on 1 December, pushing Demba Ba alongside Fernando Torres in a two-pronged attack. The tactical tweak nullified Mauricio Pochettino’s penchant for playing out from the back, which in turn restricted the ability to control the game. The same problem arose here and could be something worth observing in Southampton’s upcoming fixtures.