Tottenham defended in a compact 1-4-1-4-1 formation, looking to force Norwich wide and protect the center. Their striker would apply floating pressure to direct play to the sides. In the second half, Tottenham changed to a 4-4-1-1 to mark Norwich's deep midfielder and restrict inside passes. However, Norwich found ways to bypass the press, such as by spreading out in a back three or overloading Tottenham's defensive midfielder.

1. Week 5 Challenge
By Matthew Shutz

2. Tottenham’s DF Structure
• To start the game, Tottenham defended in mid-block in a 1-4-1-4-1.
• Tottenham defended with 1 CF, 4 midfielders, 1 DM and 4 defenders.
Tottenham wanted to stay compacted centrally with 3 layers protecting
the DF line only allowing Norwich space in the outside channels.
• Tottenham’s CF starting position was centrally to cover passing lane
into Norwich deepest DM. Their midfield line was usually staggered, not
on the same horizontal line. The position of the two wingers was slightly
higher than the CM’s. The wingers responsibility was to protect the
inner passes first. Then they had other secondary roles like: cover the
passing into Norwich’s wide player when they jump off their line and if
they Norwich receiver drops deep to press to reduce the space. The
two CM’s and the DM sitting in front of his CB’s, was to cover the center
channel to avoid the inner passes, and also mark the potential threat
between the lines (generally job of DM) .
• It should be noted, that if the wingers from Tottenham were too high
and the Norwich wingers were too far forward, the FB’s for Tottenham
would press them if they received the ball. In this images, the FB’s
would be in a better position to press Norwich FB’s than their wingers.
• Depending on where the ball was located and who on Norwich
received the ball, their structure would slightly change.
• Lastly, in the second half, Tottenham changed their formation to 4-4-1-1
because of Norwich’s influence that the deepest DM’s had in the central
channel. To prevent inside penetration, Tottenham had their AM (Son)
closely marking their DM.

3. Tottenham’s Mid-block
Pressing
• The CF (whether it’s Moura or Son) would direct play (floating
pressure) to the side lane when Norwich’s CB or a midfielder
received possession in and around their 1st line of pressure.
• The CF would often start his floating pressure from his central
position in front of Norwich’s deepest DM. When one of the
CB’s receives the ball, this would trigger the CF to press the
CB diagonally while closing the passing lane to the DM. When
the forward reaches Norwich’s DF line, he would curve his run
to cut the passing lane to the far-side CB. His pressure is not
usually intense. His intention is to direct the defender to the
side lane where Tottenham is able to shift over towards the ball
to protect the inner passes by staying compacted with
defensive numbers behind the ball.
• With Tottenham only defending with one forward in front of the
MF line, the CF would be often bypassed. Tottenham would
use this to their advantage when they had defensive cover
(defensive numerical superiority) behind the ball. This move
triggered the CF to press aggressively, from behind, to force a
rush pass or steal the ball back. In these situations,
Tottenham's MF line would stay rather deep in order to stay
vertically compacted to their DF line allowing open space in
front of them. This positioning led to false security for the ball-
carrier, causing him to think that he is able to dribble forward.
Instead, he is dribbling into the hands of Tottenham’s players
where they would tighten the space, and at times the MF’s
would press to win possession back.

4. Tottenham’s Structure
Change in 2nd half
• In the second half, Tottenham’s structure changed
to a more 4-4-1-1. Son moved off the MF line to
mark the deepest DM centrally. This created more
issues for Norwich to find an inner pass centrally. In
the1st half, the DM often moved out of Moura’s
cover shadow to receive centrally to avoid being
directed to the side lane. With Son marking the DM,
inside passes became more difficult. Directing the
CB towards the side was more frequent in the 2nd
half than the 1st. The inside option was not readily
available.

5. Pressing Triggers
• Finally, Tottenham had other moments in the
game where they pressed Norwich.Tottenham
would not press to win back possession
necessary, their goal was to push up to win gain
control of space. If one person jumped off their line
to press, their teammates followed. Some of the
pressing triggers (not restricted to just side lane)
they used to employ this tactic were:
1. Receiver had bad body profile (facing his own
goal)
2. Bad touch (ex: heavy touch)
3. Backwards and horizontal pass.

6. Tottenham’s Pressing Issues
and Norwich’s Adjustments
• 1st half when Tottenham’s (mostly Moura) pressed the CB left his
marker, DM, free, the DM moved away to free himself of his cover
shadow to receive the pass. This took away from their tactical plan
to force play wide. When this action happened, the two CM’s were
too far away to push up and pressure the DM.This is why
Tottenham changed their formation to 4-4-1-1 to have someone
mark (usually Son) to disrupt DM’s influence in their build up.
• Another issue Tottenham experienced in their pressing scheme
was when Norwich’s GK moved out of his box to form a back 3 on
their 1st line. This allowed Norwich’s CB to spread out wider (the
width of the field) with the GK occupying the center. The CB’s had
more space to receive and progress forward without the pressure
from Tottenham’s CF. The distance that Moura had to cover was
too much. He was either too late to press, or didn’t press at all
because the distance was too large. This resulted in Norwich
having time and space to carry forward and find a penetrating pass
without worrying about Moura’s pressing from behind. This at
times had a domino effect, where midfielder jumped off his line
press the ball-carrier, opening passing lane behind their MF line.
• Lastly, when Tottenham were able to force play down the side
lane, their MF line was not well organized. They had issues
staying close together to close the inner passes and at times, the
lone DM between the lines was overload in a 2v1 situation.
Norwich was able to find the free/spare man behind the MF line
because the DM was able to cover mark both players.