Emmanuel Adebayor questioned the logic of Tottenham pushing their full-backs so high up the pitch, insisting that the Lilywhites simply allowed Bukayo Saka too much space for Arsenal’s second goal.
While Tottenham started the game on the front foot and were dictating proceedings in the early stages, it was the away side that opened the scoring against the run of play when Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg headed a corner kick into his own net on 15 minutes.
The home side were punished again just 12 minutes later on the counter-attack after they committed a lot of bodies forward and lost possession.
Just a couple of passes later, Saka was baring down on Tottenham’s goal, with the Arsenal man beating Ben Davies with ease and slotting the ball into the far corner past Guglielmo Vicario.
Adebayor says Postecoglou should have changed tactics
Adebayor could not believe what he saw for Saka’s goal, questioning why Tottenham pushed both their full-backs high up the pitch, knowing the quality that the Gunners posed on the counter.
He suggested that Ange Postecoglou’s men should have been pragmatic and asked Davies to sit on Saka, given the form that the England star is in.
The former Arsenal and Spurs striker told Premier League Productions (as relayed by The Mirror): “We talked about this before the game that if they leave and push both of their fullbacks in front, then it’s very difficult for them.
“A player like Saka on the side, you know what a different player he can be. Give him space and he can do whatever he wants to do. A player with his quality, if I am playing against him, I am telling the fullback to stay on him. Right now, he is on top of his game and playing his best football.
“But Davies is moving up front all the time. Davies isn’t going to be the one to score for Tottenham to win this game, so he has to stay in position, and have Bukayo Saka and that control.
“That’s what they aren’t doing and it’s going to make life so difficult for them. If you allow Saka to play with quality with one-v-one. We see how he makes that goal look so easy. Trust me, it’s not.
“Bukayo Saka today is one of the best wingers in the Premier League and maybe in Europe. You can’t give him that space. You knew how good he is and what he could bring to his team with Arsenal. Why do you allow him to have so much space to punish you?”
Spurs Web Opinion
We know that Postecoglou is never going to change the way that he plays for any side, which is why Spurs were never going to sit deep yesterday or put Davies on Saka. In contrast, Arteta once again showed that he is more than willing to adapt his approach to take advantage of the opposition’s weaknesses.
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