Jamie Carragher explains what he finds ‘strange’ about Tottenham this season
Jamie Carragher has said that even though Tottenham Hotspur have been poor defensively, all of their first-choice back four have had pretty good seasons.
After some initial excitement about Ange Postecoglou’s concept at N17, some Spurs supporters are now beginning to doubt the Australian’s tactics due to the team’s recent poor performance.
The Australian made it plain to game.London on Friday that he will not be altering his mindset, stating that nothing he has witnessed in recent weeks has led him to question Tottenham’s ability to succeed with this kind of game.
But Postecoglou also admitted for the first time that if Spurs are to contend for big titles this summer, a lot of changes to the team would need to be made. The club needs players who are more suited to this style of play.
Carragher thinks Tottenham’s defensive record is strange
Carragher identified that Spurs have to improve defensively if they are to close the gap with the best sides in the division, but he suggested that it is the team’s defensive organisation that has to improve rather than their personnel at the back.
The pundit said on The Echo of Glory podcast: “I think there’s a lot to improve, certainly defensively. When you look at the defensive record, the strange thing about your defensive record is you would probably say all your defenders have played pretty well.
“You are probably happy with your two full-backs, you are probably happy with Van de Ven who has come in at Romero, the defender, may have won the World Cup, but your defensive record is still horrible. This suggests that the team’s setup and possibly its composition at the top of the pitch are more important. It needs to get better for the upcoming season.
Carragher makes a valid argument when he says that none of our back four have had subpar seasons. Our ability to successfully counter-press and recover the ball as soon as we lose it may need to be improved in order to prevent our high defensive line from being exposed as frequently.
That may be the reason Postecoglou is looking for guys with actual athletic ability and technical soundness like Conor Gallagher and Ederson.
