Tottenham lined up with three at the back against Swansea. Was this a mistake?
Tottenham Hotspur kept a second clean sheet in succession in the Premier League at the weekend, but the problem was their failure to score at the other end.
Lining up with three central defenders may be Mauricio Pochettino’s new formation of choice – but he may have to start considering altering his approach dependent on the opponent.
It is one thing to start three at the back away at Everton, or at home to Borussia Dortmund.
At home to Swansea City should be a different matter.
Swansea had scored just two goals in the four Premier League games leading into the weekend.
Spurs already had the league’s best defence before they signed £42 million defender Davinson Sanchez, but against Swansea, starting the Colombian was needless.
This was also Sanchez’s fourth start in a fortnight for club and country, and it would have been an ideal game to give him a rest.
Spurs of course kept a clean sheet, but their attacking options could have been by starting Ben Davies at left-back and making better use of Heung-Min Son further forward.
Sanchez is clearly going to be a very valuable player for Spurs this season, but against ‘lesser teams’ who struggle for goals anyway and who sit back, using him is a luxury the North London side do not need.
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