After seeing his team lose three consecutive games, two without Harry Kane, Jose Mourinho decided to make some changes to his side ahead of the game against West Brom.
The Lilywhites welcomed Kane back to their starting Xi for the match, as he returned from injury to help them to an important win.
Kane’s goal and involvement in the second made him arguably the best player for Spurs in the match.
However, his inclusion in the team isn’t the only surprise that Mourinho pulled off as he also made changes to his team’s setup for the match.
He set his team up with a front four that saw Kane and Son Heung-min get supported by Lucas Moura and Erik Lamela, reckons Standard Sports’ Dan Kilpatrick.
It was a refreshingly new strategy, and it worked with the two new players working hard to give more problems to the Baggies.
Kilpatrick writes: “Kane was not the only Spurs player who made a positive a difference, as Mourinho’s set-up and selections offered an encouraging blueprint for his side’s potential recovery going forward.
“Kane returned to a new-look front four, with Erik Lamela and Moura coming in and Tanguy Ndombele dropping back to the double pivot – a role which suits the Frenchman’s skillset.
“Ndombele’s presence in a deeper midfield role enabled Spurs to progress possession into the final third with far more regularity than against Chelsea and Lamela was impressive at inside right. Lucas fully justified his inclusion with a 60-yard run for the second goal.”
Agreed, i think he will play two holding midfielders against City next weekend..
Most good managers change their system to suit the opposition.
You are applauding Jose for doing his job. Not sure why. Everytime he find a combation that reworks he reverts to some mad scientist setup. I would not be surprised if he change the system against city next Sunday.
Full credit to JM for putting his faith in a system which allowed that transition to the forward half.The players responded.
This was an interesting set-up, not least because I thought Lamela was our man of the match, certainly in the first half anyway. Lucas also had a good game, and both seemed to thrive in the once-favoured 4-2-3-1 formation.
We were all expecting to see three at the front of Kane, Son and Bale when the latter was signed on loan, but it’s obvious now that Bale isn’t up to the job and will return to Madrid, his pedigree further damaged.
I know that Lamela has long been deemed dead wood, and recently too Moura, but if they can secure a few starts with regular game time, and put in a shift like today, we may just have a system that we can make work going forward.