Muzi watching the tiger fight | Tottenham didn't win away at West Ham United, so Manchester City, Tottenham and Manchester United still have to play catch-up

In the pre-match press conference against West Ham, Postecoglou dealt with an interesting question.

When asked if Manchester United, who are eight points apart, can catch up with Tottenham, Postecoglou asked reporters if Tottenham can catch up with Manchester City, who are also eight points apart. While the reporter went on to say that he thought Tottenham were more consistent than Manchester United, Postecoglou did not go on a stick and instead said he only wanted a strong finish.

In my opinion, whether Manchester United can catch up with Tottenham and whether Tottenham can catch up with Manchester City is a difficult thing to say, because the teams with the same idea have similar tactical advantages and disadvantages. In this case, there is no need for everyone to be arrogant and think that you will definitely not be able to catch up with me, but there is no need to be arrogant and think that I will definitely not be able to catch up with you.

It's like the final result of this game and this round of the Premier League.

Away at West Ham United, it was difficult for anyone to play, but in this game, Tottenham continued their good habit of starting strongly.

In the opening stage, Romero at the back continued to drop Antonio's possession:

Similarly, in the 5th minute, Tottenham played the line they wanted, sending the ball between the lines and scoring the first goal through a cross from the left and a flank in front of goal:

Emerson looked back twice, but it was between those two glances that Brennan Johnson scrambled in front of him to meet Werner's cross.

Of course, in Postecoglou's sight, the key to this goal was the process of attacking speed, that is, the two kicks of Maddison to Bentancur and Bentancur to Udogie, the accuracy of the pass and the timing of the response were just right, thus breaking down the defensive position of West Ham.

And in the 14th minute, an almost identical, but clearer process allowed Tottenham to play a similar attack:

From this attack, you can see what the training focus of the Gua coach is.

Bentancur receives the pass to the right, Maddison above and Udogie below have the same idea, you Bentancur receives the ball and wants to turn, then I will run a forward line for you, as long as you can get rid of the opponent, you can continue to move forward with a pass at your feet:

If you can't get rid of it, that's the direction that Udogie pointed out earlier, and pass it to the central defender in the vacant position:

You go around and I'm going to run open, and you pass it out and I'm running in, and that's it, because then there's a one-on-one environment on the offensive end, which is Werner in these two attacks.

Therefore, the focus of the training of the melon coach is actually this, which is what we often talk about: the line.

The players with the ball play the ball, the players without the ball run to create gaps, enter the gaps, and finally receive the pass from the players with the ball, in the backfield, this is called breaking the high press, in the midfield, this is called passing through the midfield, and in the frontcourt, this is called passing and cutting or other blablablabla. In the midst of this, when to run, where to run, when to transmit, where to transmit? Of course, this is knowledge, but in the final analysis, it is all the same thing.

You say that this thing is not worth studying seriously, that is a lie, after all, this is how Tottenham's first goal was scored, but you say how much this thing is worth studying seriously, and even let a large wave of coaches drill into the horns, that is also nonsense, because Tottenham played two more attacks, but they all fell on the last kick:

Tottenham would certainly have a bigger advantage and have a good chance of winning the game, but if it didn't, Postecoglou naturally said after the game that the players were not thinking clearly enough in the final moments of the attack, and even said the classic melon style of "I wish I had a rocker so I could put them all in the position I want".

Of course, Postecoglou himself knows that the players are different people and can't do this, but then again, football is not handball, a single goal, a single game, and even long-term mistakes are inevitable, and Barcelona's peak dream three can't sweep all the championships for a long time, let alone other teams.

So, when pouring resources into the forward and attacking links, you can't ignore the backward and defensive links, not to mention that Tottenham have problems on both sides.

On the way forward, Son Heung-min is a problem.

Son Xingmin couldn't play as a center forward during the Mourinho and Conte periods, and Pochettino didn't do it, but in Postecoglou, Son Xingmin is not only playing, the data is not bad for a while, this is actually the result of the system bonus.

Because, if the tactics require the midfielders, fullbacks and wingers to come up to help attack, Haaland can break the record, what else can Son Xingmin not play as a winger? However, there are still some differences between the two, Haaland has at least a strong body, and he can indeed hold down the central defender line, so as to open up space for the second line, but Son Xingmin is not good, he can't carry the front top of the opponent's central defender, and he also needs to touch the ball from time to time:

As a result, he and Maddison, who have similar problems, will drop back sharply to catch the ball, leaving Tottenham with a vacuum in the core area:

For Gua coaches, second-line spaces such as the ribs and inverted triangle are the lifeblood of the offensive end, so whether they seem to value center players or not, this element is indispensable.

Without the peak Messi, Guardiola can't do without Lewandowski and Aguero, and now he has Haaland, and before Haaland, he also has to let De Bruyne rush forward, the same reason before and after: with this center forward element, you pour resources forward to have an origin, and with this origin, the offensive efficiency can be substantially improved.

The existing problem with Tottenham's system is that in addition to the extremely low intensity, the opponent's counterattack can not threaten Tottenham's backfield at all, Son Xingmin can't play the center, especially when he and Maddison appear in the middle together, it is even weaker, not at all.

This origin does not have the effect of a foundation, so even if you erect a high-rise building with a reinforced concrete structure with high strength on this foundation, it will be a castle in the air.

And the attacking efficiency cannot be improved with the manpower invested, and it is impossible to establish an advantage and kill the game in a short period of time, so Tottenham will naturally have problems at the back.

Because Postecoglou has invested more people in attack than the average melon coach, not to mention, West Ham United is not a team that can completely threaten Tottenham's backline.

The conceded round is a clear example:

It all started with Tottenham's possession, only for Udogie to miss a misplaced pass in midfield and West Ham regain possession, who then moved forward from the right.

Coufal shook off Timo Werner on the road, forcing Bentancur in the middle to pull in to make up for it, but Bowen on the right didn't use him to create a Tottenham corner in one-on-one.

It was from this corner that West Ham equalised:

West Ham have a lot of tall and strong players, so creating a set-piece in attack may be a sign of a drop in attacking efficiency for Tottenham, but not for West Ham, but it is a good opportunity.

Strictly speaking, West Ham's performance in the first half was really average, and there were not too many effective counter-attacks, but in the second half, after the attrition of the first half, Antonio's performance in front of the central defenders began to improve:

The attack created by pressing and set-pieces was also played:

At the same time, Tottenham's attack began to be inefficient, with occasional threats, but mostly crosses from the right:

As for this kind of strong attack in a dense area, the probability of West Ham successfully clearing is actually much higher than the probability of Tottenham playing:

And in the 60th minute, the huge difference between the two teams in terms of offensive style was vividly reflected:

Son Heung-min and Maddison successively exposed their physical disadvantages, the former was reluctant to enter the core area, the latter was directly pressed down in the confrontation, and then West Ham hit back with a big kick, Antonio won Van der Ven in one-on-one and shot was saved in front of the goalkeeper:

Of course, the end result was that no one scored, but the difference was clear.

Tottenham play through the design of the line, and the success or failure of the play is all supported by precision, but if one of the passes or the last shot is not played well, everything will be zero.

West Ham used physicality and confrontation to play people, and Antonio couldn't win the first half against the Tottenham centre-back, but built up enough consumption to face the goalkeeper in the second half.

And on the side of West Ham United, there are actually a lot of problems. Antonio is old, in fact, he can't support this kind of intensity of this game, this time to win Van der Ven but not win Vicario is also an example, and after Antonio returned, Moyes not only could not arrange Ben Johnson as a forward defender as before, but could only put Kudus back on the left side, so that he was a weak side striker on the right side, including the characteristics of backfoot attack.

Up the center, on Bowen, a smooth winger, of course, conforms to Moyes's team's tactical focus is behind, and the first priority is to seize depth, but it is a pity that Kudus sacrificed because of this, after all, he has proven his ability and characteristics before, so Moyes will have to continue to ponder Antonio's offensive thinking after he comes on the field.

On Tottenham's side, after the substitution, Kulusevski came up to play the front midfield, and then Richarlison came up to play the center, which made Tottenham finally have a solid foundation to have such an attack:

However, in the previous 70 minutes, the attrition on the back line has been played out and will not recover because the substitutes come on, so Tottenham can play a chance, and West Ham's counter-attack is also:

In the end, as Moyes said, a draw was a reasonable outcome.

The two teams are clearly two teams of thought. Tottenham's emphasis on the line has allowed Postecoglou to willingly accept Son Heung-min as a central striker and Maddison as a midfielder, so as to play an advantage, but this advantage is not destined to last long on the road.

As for West Ham United, several people in the front field have physical characteristics, either strong or fast, and even Paqueta, who provides skills, puts his arms up, and Tottenham has no way to limit it.

With physical characteristics, you are destined to not be able to run in place every time, and players who can run in place every time, in this era, you don't expect any additional characteristics at the physical level, so you use this to hit people, I use that to hit people, you go into one, I also go into one, it's very fair.

As for Tottenham themselves, it's the same.

If Manchester City and Arsenal at this stage have formed a high-level balance in the melon system, where the front can reap high returns and the back can also cover high risks, then Tottenham can be seen as forming a low-level balance in the melon thinking, with low returns in the front and low risks in the back.

This season's Manchester United has not formed this balance, with the benefits of the front being fluctuating and the risks covered behind.

Therefore, Manchester City, who are eight points ahead, are in contention for the title, West Ham United, who cannot win away, are fighting for the top four, and Manchester United, who are even worse, are still eight points short because everyone has not won in this round.

In a way, everyone is unstable, so there is a kind of subtle fairness.