Tottenham have turned to Roberto De Zerbi in their fight against Premier League relegation, but what do his tactics promise for the rest of the season? From a different style of play to a new midfield duo, Jacob is here to tell us just how De Zerbi's 'Press-Baiting' tactic can save tottenham
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Roberto De Zerbi's tactics are some of the most intriguing in football
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In fact, he's widely regarded as one of the most important gaffers of the modern era
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But does that mean things will actually work out for him at Tottenham
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I'm Jacob Horsfall, 442's resident tactician, and this is how this Roberto De Zerbi line-up could save Tottenham
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To understand his system, we first got to look at the foundations of his style of play
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Press baiting is a style of build-up, and it's something that Roberto De Zerbe really helped popularise in England
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These 3v3s are moments that Marseille constantly found themselves in under Roberto De Zerbe
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That's because Marseille have loads of players in the first phase, so the opposition step forward to press
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which means the Marseille defenders can then play into the space beyond the press. Which again, is core to the way De Zerbe wants to build up and play his football
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Lewis Dunk, during De Zerbe's first two seasons at Brighton, had completed the most pass in the Premier League out of any player
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Now, Lewis Dunk wasn't just pinning about passes for the sake of it, and it wasn't a coincidence that he was playing so many passes
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It's because that is a core of De Zerbe's football. When we look at the Tottenham backline, De Zerbe makes perfect sense for that way of playing
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Cristian Romero is arguably one of the best passers through the lines out of any player in the Premier League
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So you'd imagine he'll be happy to have a lot of on-ball responsibility, just like Lewis Dunk did at Brighton
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However, there's someone who actually benefits more than Romero from De Zerbe's style of play
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and that's Vicario. I know, I know, I can hear you through the screen
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Vicario is useless with his feet, or at least he has been since Ange Postacoglu left the club
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and that's the key. 47% of Vicario's passes have been long passes this season
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which yes, is pretty normal for a goalkeeper, but in the first season of Ange Postacoglu
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only 21% of Vicario's passes were being sent long and I'd argue that Ange's first season
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is when we really, really saw the best of Vicario. Ange's build-up wasn't identical
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to the Zerbys, but the idea behind taking risks and playing quite a few short distance passes was
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the same. And actually, with Ange, there's a lot of things that are similar between him and Roberto
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de Zerbi. Big Ange gave his fullbacks utility roles. By that, I mean they would invert on the
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inside, but also they would be expected to get forward and join the attack if that opportunity
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arose. Both Destiny Adoggi and Pedro Porro both really did perform with that responsibility given
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to them, which is something that I think de Zerbi could give back to them. The fullback is in midfield
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are to pull the opposition narrow and give the winger a 1v1 against his fullback. The ball is
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then played to the winger, he bounces it and spins in behind to attack the open space. Then in this
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instance it's a completely different story. The fullback is all the way back here but as soon as
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that wine man picks up the ball the fullback legs it and manages to get around him make that overlap and run split the defender mind and give space for the winger to cut inside and produce something both those things
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fit the profiles of poro and udoggy well udoggy if he can stay fit but even if he can't his best
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football did still come when he was given that responsibility to do all that sort of jazz as a
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fullback which again i think the zerby will give to him so we've got the back line pretty much set
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in stone and we will get onto the midfield very shortly but I want to first talk about the wingers
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because they kind of go hand in hand with the fullbacks. Marseille's top dribblers and top
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scorers see two of their wingers in the top five for both of them. In the modern game a high scoring
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winger is not mental but a guy who shoots a lot, scores a lot and also takes a lot of take-ons
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that is pretty rare. However in a system in which the opposition are baited out to press and then
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the opposition's fullback, the split between marking his opposing fullback and also the opposing
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winger, it does make a lot of sense. Now, a player who fits the mold of being direct, being a high
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volume shooter and also attempting a lot of take-ons is Mohamed Koudous. Unfortunately, he's back from
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injury pretty soon. Look at this here. Free defenders could easily have impact on Mohamed Koudous and
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where he goes with the ball, but instead he takes a touch wide, which creates a 1v1 between him and
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the nearest defender. He then uses just pure pace to accelerate away and then attack space
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and deliver into the box. Kourouz is just simply incredible in those 1v1 battles. Compared to every
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other Premier League player, he sits fifth in the league for most dribbles completed per 90 minutes
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And it's important to remember, he was playing in less favourable conditions than you expect he will
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do under De Zerbe. By that I mean, he was usually in a 1v4, whereas De Zerbe will try to get him
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into more 1v1s. So Kourouz slots in on the right, but what about the left? Xavi Simmons, potentially
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even Lucas Bergvall? No, it's Matis Tell. In attack, Pedro Porro's crossing will be utilised
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It's a must, it has to be utilised, but that means that you can't just have Solanke or Richarlison
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attacking the cross, you need other players, like Matis Tell at the back stake. Matis Tell's ability
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to arrive at the back post and sniff out a chance would make perfect sense to get the most of Pedro
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Porro's ridiculous crossing ability, but Tell does still have some issues. When receiving with his
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back to goal, his touch is often very loose, which means he's not the most secure player
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in possession. However, I think De Zerbi's ideas behind his attack can certainly help manage that
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with Tell. Because the opposition's midfield line is often dragged high to press, the opposition's
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fullback doesn't really want to over-engage with his winger, which means a De Zerbi winger is often
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given time to take a touch, then square up his mind before having to commit to being in a duel
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That because the wingers are isolated with the fullback A fullback then wants to protect the between the winger and the goal because if you over commit he can often end up being in a rondo and getting passed around him Which is why I think Tell can be really important for De Zerbe in this Tottenham team
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because he will be receiving the ball high, already facing goal. And as we know, he is a high volume shooter
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which De Zerbe loves. He will often rotate into midfield, then take a small touch before getting a shot off early
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Which again, is something that De Zerbe will want. He wants his winger to be taking plenty of digs towards goal
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So there's the goalkeeper, there's the defence, and there's the wingers. But what's about the midfields
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Well, I can imagine Roberto De Zerbi is going to be a little bit frustrated
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with the midfield that he's got in front of him. Spurs midfield likes any sort of real progressive passer
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someone who will get on the ball, fire the ball through the lines continuously and break the opposition's pressing structure
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When baiting the press, a midfielder will either come in and bounce the ball to the opposite side of the defence
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so then the defender can play forward or they'll be expected to get on the ball
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receive on the half turn and then fire Tottenham forward. Which when you look at the Tottenham squad, there's not many options for De Zerbe
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But when you look on a technical level at the players, Archie Gray is probably the best fit
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His performance against Atletico Madrid was one of a future midfield general who has every tool in his locker
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Here he sees a loose ball, beats an Atleti player to the loose ball and then starts an attack instantly with his first touch
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That ability to cover ground, retain possession but also fire your team into an attack
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is so important for a manager like De Zerbe who is attacking-minded at the forefront of his philosophy
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So, I think Archie Gray is a shoo-in, but at Brighton, we often saw a double pivot under De Zerbe
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So, we need to look at who his partner is actually going to be. Clips of Roberto De Zerbe with Lucas Bergwahl have already emerged
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and looking at it, we either have a match made in heaven here where Lucas Bergwahl projected to be one of the best midfielders
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in the league in two years' time, or we have an environment that Bergwahl could really struggle in
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The midfielders De Zerbi used at Brighton are largely cut from the same cloth
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They're all action players. Lucas Bergvold probably falls onto the attacking side of that all action category
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which to me says he could be really, really important in this De Zerbi system
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Bergvold can get forward and help pin back the opposition's back line, whilst also having the brain and the IQ to latch onto those balls that are going to be played into the box
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Something that De Zerbi looks to utilise with his midfielders whilst he was over in France
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So, that leaves us with just the number 10 and the centre forward to work with now
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The former Marseille manager will want a number 10 who can nit play together, can play those short passes and also can operate in multiple different positions to join in with rotations
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Which, for me, leaves a huge opening for Xavi Simons to finally come onto the main stage and grab the spotlights
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Xavi Simons heat map from this season shows him having that pretty heavy bias for the left side He wants to get the ball there and then he wants to look to them play inside or play forward from that zone Now with De Zerbi encouraging his wingers to be pretty free in the zones they operate in Xavi Simmons
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ability to operate across the front three could be pretty important. Space has opened up for the
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Marseille right winger to come inside and drive into space here. So the on paper number 10 looks
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to go on the wide flank and start to get in behind the opposition's defence. He then has passed the
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ball by the right winger who's inverted inside and then looks to play into the box as quick as
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he can with his minimal touches. Again, something that suits Xavi Simmons. Don't get me wrong
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I completely understand that Xavi Simmons has been so underwhelming, but he was told to carry
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over large distances, which he's not great at, and he didn't really have the players around him to
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play those short, intricate passes, which is what he's best at. So under a new manager, we could
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potentially see Xavi Simmons at his very best. So that's pretty much the whole team ticked off
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We just need someone to lead the line. Someone who can link play, someone who can get into the box
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someone who can be doing a little bit of everything. Now, this is the touch map of someone who can do that
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Operating in his own half, in the opposition's half, doing a little bit of everything
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That's Dominic Solanke's touch map. Solanke, throughout his time in the Premier League
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has been vital to his team's ball progression and build-up play. Something that Roberto Dezerbi will certainly want from his number nine
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However, it's not just about the end product of Dezerbi ball. It's not just how we will look eventually
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It's about the here and now. And it's not going to be perfect in the here and now. As much as De Zerbe loves his intricate pass in football
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don't be surprised if we see long balls and direct passes until things have really settled
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Potentially, until the end of the season. Which means Solanke's job and his ability to make the ball stick
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is going to be even more important. So, that's my predicted XI
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At least for now. But, it's pretty easy to just make a predicted XI
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with a few little things in about the manager. I bet a lot of Spurs fans are actually worried about how quickly that that 11 will gel and work together
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Brighton saw five winless games in De Zerbi's first five fixtures at the Seagulls
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However, it actually wasn't that bad. In his first game, they drew 3-3 with Liverpool and 100% of Brighton's shots came inside the Liverpool box
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They weren't just having pop shots, they were creating real high-value chances, even though they were away at Anfield in De Zerbi's first game against the Jurgen Klopp Liverpool side
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I'll give you the truth, the objective truth. Roberto de Zerbi's system is intricate and it's complicated
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but that doesn't mean it's nailed on to take years and years for the Tottenham players to grasp it and understand it
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Just like it doesn't have to take time for you to go and like and subscribe this video, because I'll be back again next week with more ysis
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Who knows? It might be about Tottenham's historic weekend win. Let me know. Maybe it is. Maybe you're watching after that
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And yeah, I'll see you next week
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