Match Analysis: Tottenham 0–1 Man City (WSL)

Context

• Both teams went into this game chasing a top-three WSL finish and Champions League qualification. Tottenham were fourth on 28 points and Manchester City were fifth on 23, but with a game in hand.
• Tottenham have performed above all expectations to be in this position, but are missing the creativity of Kit Graham, who is injured.
• City have under-performed this season, but with key players back from injury they went into this game in form, with a confidence-boosting League Cup final win over Chelsea last weekend.
• The game was played at Tottenham’s stadium, The Hive. The pitch appeared a little heavy and uneven, which probably suited Spurs more than City.

Starting Lineups

Rehanne Skinner set Tottenham up in their usual 4–2–3–1. Rebecca Spencer was selected as goalkeeper, perhaps because her ball-playing helps Spurs build from the back against high-pressing opponents. Without Jessica Naz, Ashleigh Neville played further up than usual, on the right wing. Ria Percival, usually a midfielder, dropped into the right-back position.

The midfield three of Maeva Clemaron, Eveliina Summanen and Cho So-hyun ensured they had plenty of energy in the middle, which would be crucial in a game where Spurs were likely to have the minority share of ball possession. Up front, Rachel Williams was flanked by Neville and Kyah Simon.

Gareth Taylor set up Manchester City as always: in a 4–3–3. There were no surprises in the selection, with the back four, midfield three and frontline looking as expected. Hayley Raso continued on the right wing, with Jess Park on the bench.

Basic overview of how both teams lined up.

Match Analysis

Tottenham defended in a 4–4–2 shape, with Cho joining Williams up front. The front two moved as a unit, screening City’s defensive midfielder Keira Walsh. One of the front two would press the ball-playing centre-back while the other would mark Walsh. For whatever reason, Walsh rarely ventured from her position, so was almost always blocked and unavailable to receive.

Behind Williams and Cho, Tottenham’s midfield stayed compact. With Walsh unavailable for much of the first half, City’s attacking midfielders, Caroline Weir and Georgia Stanway, came short for the ball when it was on their side. This was a very simple movement to track though, with the nearest Spurs midfielder following them and increasing the pressure around the ball.

City found it difficult to find their midfielders, with Walsh, Weir and Stanway largely nullified by Tottenham’s 4–4–2 defensive block. Tottenham must be credited for their discipline and organisation, but the lack of dynamism in City’s midfield was a concern. There simply was not enough movement to test Tottenham’s shape and open up angles for passing and combinations. Walsh, Weir and Stanway were too easy to mark or block, so in the end City were forced to play backwards and sideways, or go more direct towards the front three. (Or they were intercepted/pressured into a turnover in midfield or near the touchline.)

Greenwood did most of the passing from the back, with accurate long balls to pick out City’s left winger. Raso and Hemp, who switched wings during the game, are both extremely quick, so could get on the end of these long balls and run behind or go 1-v-1 with their opponent. However, not much came from these situations.

Up front, Ellen White was almost completely absent from the first half, and when she did turn up it was mostly far away from her favourite area: the penalty box. She tried to come short and offer an option to the centre-backs as all three midfielders were often inaccessible, but Spurs would have been quite happy to have England’s №9 playing back to goal in midfield, as opposed to making moves on crosses into their box.

City tweaked a few player positions to try and cause problems for Spurs. Bronze came infield into a holding midfield position at one point, and Walsh dropped deeper in the second half to get away from the screening of Tottenham’s front two. But overall, these changes of position had minimal effect, because they weren’t dynamic. Rather than players moving during the course of build-up, and forcing decision-making crises for their markers, they just took up a new position and stayed there. The passing patterns and rhythm of the play remained the same: deliberate and predictable.

Bronze is far more threatening when coming infield in a dynamic way, from a wide starting position. So moving or coming inside on the dribble, combining with the midfielders through give-and-goes. Once in motion, she is difficult to stop, because of her speed and strength to hold off defenders, ride challenges and accelerate into opening space. But if she is just plonked into central midfield, and sits there statically, she’s just another easy player for Spurs to mark or screen.

A more common second half theme was Walsh dropping into a deeper position, usually between the centre-backs. But again, there was nothing challenging about this. Spurs are zonal, so they didn’t man-mark her. This meant Walsh was free, but she didn’t use that freedom well. Instead of playing long switches to get quick ball to the wingers, or running it forward and committing defenders out of position, she simply passed sideways and asked the centre-backs to do something with it. Once again, Greenwood had to take on huge responsibility for progressing play.

As a side note, this is a good example of why having more numbers than an opponent in a given area means not very much at all. If the overload isn’t dynamic, it’s not much use. There needs to be some kind of quality movement, whether it be a player dribbling, or rotations of position, or movement off the ball. Let me give you an example of what I mean.

Here is something positive from City’s build-up. Stanway drops in to receive from the centre-backs, while Bronze takes up a higher position. It’s another one of those position changes that City tried without much success. But what makes this one work, unlike the others, is the movement of Stanway and Raso. Raso comes short on the sideline, lays it off, then sprints forward. Spurs left-back Kerys Harrop could not keep up. Stanway moves to receive, then plays Raso into space behind. Spurs are opened up.

City threatened most in transition, when they could run at a Tottenham defence that wasn’t set. In these moments, the quality of Stanway and Weir, and the pace of Bronze, Raso and Hemp, meant they could exploit the space and create opportunities. This is how City got their goal. After a failed Spurs attack, Ellie Roebuck released Bronze, who ran into space outside right. Bronze’s run created a 2v1 on Harrop, and played Raso in behind to cross. That was bundled in by Weir. 1–0 City.

After that, there was no comeback from Tottenham. They went long for most of the game, looking to win the midfield battle, secure the ball and build a counter-attack from there. They got into decent areas, but lacked quality in the final third. This was especially true in the second half, with Williams substituted. Without her hold-up play and penalty box threat, Spurs had nothing to trouble City’s back line with: no real pace, no natural striker, no aerial presence, and nobody who could create. On creativity: this is where they really miss Kit Graham, who can split the last line with a pass or whip in a good cross.

Summary of Events

• Tottenham defended well and reduced City’s passing angles into midfield.
• City lacked dynamism, particularly in midfield, and were often forced to play direct or gave the ball away.
• Tottenham lacked cutting edge to take advantage of their counter-attacks.
• City exploited transitional moments in the second half, with their quality attackers taking full advantage of space to create chances.
• Once City went 1–0 up, Tottenham had nothing to get back into the game.

Other Notes

• Manchester City now have something like their strongest selection available, but they once again struggled to break down an opponent with a smaller budget. Perhaps their problems this season haven’t been entirely down to injuries?
• Ultimately, the proof will be in the pudding. But can third place and a League Cup seriously constitute success for a club that regularly fields the majority of England’s first XI, and has last season’s French League top scorer Khadija Shaw now performing the ‘Rose Lavelle role’ (keeping the subs’ bench warm every week)?
• While they lost, I felt Tottenham had the stronger game plan. This is a testament to Rehanne Skinner and the work she has done since taking charge in November 2020. If they can add a bit of quality in attacking positions, they can be mainstays near the top of the WSL.