Glenn Hoddle was left frustrated at how Ange Postecoglou used both Oliver Skipp and Richarlison during Tottenham’s 2-1 win over nine-man Liverpool on Saturday.
Put aside the VAR drama for a minute, the fact of the matter is, for large parts, Tottenham were playing against ten men and then, following Diogo Jota’s sending-off after 68 minutes, nine men.
But Spurs legend Hoddle feels that his former side got away with it and he was ‘very disappointed’ at how they played, especially the roles that were handed to Oliver Skipp and Richarlison, as he told Premier League Productions (02/10/23 at 10:50 pm).
Starting with Oliver Skipp, the midfielder came off the bench after 83 minutes, so the picture he came into was far different to the one Richarlison started with because he was brought back into the XI by Ange Postecoglou.
The Brazil international actually made an impact, including assisting Son Heung-min for Spurs’ opener.
But how Spurs played against the ten and nine men left Hoddle annoyed, as he couldn’t quite understand why Oliver Skipp was ‘making runs inside’ rather than using the width of the pitch, as well as watching Richarlison sit so deep that he was playing left-back during the latter stages of the game.
Tottenham’s set-up against ten and nine men
“I was very disappointed with ten men and nine men,” said Hoddle. “Tottenham tried to go through the eye of the needle, but not enough width, at all.
“They kept coming back and inside, which was making it easy, even for nine men to defend against you. No imagination of making an overlap and making a run around the back. That happened five, six or seven times. Probably more than that – Spurs, all day long, kept inside the back five there and they made it easy for Liverpool.
“Skipp comes on and he has been told to make the runs inside like we have seen Udogie do. They aren’t the runs. I am sorry, but they are not the runs. In pre-season, you set your team up, we go down to ten men. What are we going to do? I was scratching my head in frustration. What on earth is going on here?
“You are playing against nine men. The players are playing as if it’s 11 v 11. Richarlison has to be up here (centre of the pitch and not in the left-back area). Then the two centre-backs can’t get involved in the keep ball. How many white shirts are marking no-one? They get a corner Liverpool, and then I see him, okay, he is a good header of the ball, but send someone up the halfway line, then you need two players up the pitch – I couldn’t understand. Really couldn’t.”
Tottenham make it count… in the end
Those frustrations by Hoddle were proven when Pedro Porro pulled out wide and whipped in a cross that Joel Matip could only fire into the back of his own net.
It was the late, late show, once again, from Spurs, who are unbeaten after seven Premier League games and sitting second in the table.
But that wasn’t the talk after the game, with that Luis Diaz call, amongst other things, the stories that are still hitting the headlines.
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