Chelsea remain unbeatable in their new formation, but Spurs came mighty close.
Mauricio Pochettino’s intuitive deployment of forward Heung Min-Son was the closest any side has come to finding a way to defeat Chelsea’s 3-5-2 formation, Phil Neville said on Match of the Day.
Victor Moses slotted home a second-half winner as Antonio Conte’s side sealed a seventh straight Premier League triumph, with an excellent performance after the interval proving enough to rectify a sluggish start during which Tottenham Hotspur could consider themselves unlucky to only be one goal to the good.
Much of Spurs’ most dangerous attacks originated on the left flank, where South Korean international Son was stationed in order to negate the attacking influence of roving wing-back Moses; a tactic that worked well for the opening period.
And Neville believes Pochettino’s eye for detail represents the most effective method of countering Conte’s constantly effective system.
“I’ve not seen a team actually work out how to play against the 3-5-2,” Neville said during BBC’s coverage of Match of the Day, broadcast at 10.30 on 26 November.
“But in the first half Spurs were sensational, and it was the tactic of playing Son so wide on the left-hand side.
“We’ve seen how important Victor Moses has been but the positions Son was taking up were causing Moses and Cesar Azpilicueta so many problems because it made Moses play a lot deeper and he had no effect at all in the first-half.”
Pochettino, who famously demands such high levels of intensity and pressing from his charges, pulled something of a surprise by allowing Son to deviate from his defensive duties in order to ensure Spurs had an out-ball on the counter.
Conversely, this meant Moses was able to saunter up-field completely un-tracked to power in the winner after the break. As of yet, Conte’s system remains unbreakable.
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