Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham tactics found out as Gareth Bale worries rise

Dan Kilpatrick @Dan_KP20 December 2020

Jose Mourinho’s tactics have been under fresh scrutiny since Tottenham's draw at Crystal Palace and stoppage-time defeat to Liverpool but the manager defended his approach on the eve of this game, insisting he was not wedded to a counter-attacking style.

Spurs had the chance to prove it against Leicester – but they blew it, as the Foxes condemned Mourinho’s side to consecutive defeats and leapfrogged them in the Premier League table.

Like Spurs, Brendan Rodgers' side are happy to cede possession and play on the counter, so a largely uneventful first half was defined by the bizarre spectacle of both teams attempting to avoid having the ball.

Hary Kane tested Kasper Schmeichel with a deflected free-kick but Spurs looked flat, sluggish and short of ideas against a Leicester side who were determined to avoid falling into Mourinho's trap – as they did in a 3-0 defeat here in July.

Jamie Vardy's penalty on the stroke of half-time gave the visitors the lead following a careless foul on James Justin by Serge Aurier, leaving Spurs needing to open up and attack their opponents – arguably for the first time in the League since the opening-day defeat to Everton. 

If it was a test of their comfort playing on the front foot, the hosts failed as Leicester simply bettered Spurs at their own game.

Rodgers’ side sat back and defended resolutely – with Kane, Heung-min Son, Gareth Bale and Lucas Moura unable to find a way through – while hitting the hosts on the break.

Vardy made the game safe, forcing Toby Alderweireld into an own goal on the hour, not long after James Maddison had seen his strike ruled out by the VAR for a fractional offside.

The defeat will increase the scrutiny of Mourinho’s style of play, which Tottenham’s opponents already appear to have worked out.

It also leaves their title challenge – which Mourinho has always played down – hanging by a thread and they will be anxious ahead of tricky a festive spell that includes Wednesday's EFL Cup quarter-final at Stoke and matches against Wolves, Fulham and Leeds by January 2.

Premier League - Tottenham Hotspur v Leicester City
Pool via REUTERS

Bale fails to sparkle

At what point should we start worrying about Bale?

The Welshman was a passenger after being introduced at the interval, with Spurs trailing 1-0.

In his first spell, this was exactly the kind of flat performance that Bale transformed through individual brilliance but he looks a long way from making that kind of impact now.

The 31-year-old showed one flash of the old quality, driving inside and drawing a foul from Wilfred Ndidi, but he fired the resulting free-kick high.

Mourinho has tempered expectations by insisting Bale is a different player to the one who left Spurs in 2013, which is fair, but the question is whether Bale 2.0 is currently a better option to change the game than Carlos Vinicius or Dele Alli, who was left out of the 20-man match-day squad altogether.

Tottenham Hotspur v Leicester City - Premier League
Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images

Aurier a liability again

Leicester's goal was the result of a characteristic moment of carelessness from Aurier. The Ivorian has made strides in the right direction this season with a series of impressive defensive performance, including in Wednesday's defeat at Anfield.

But there have been indicators that a major mistake is in the post, including a sloppy performance against Palace last Sunday, when he gave away the free-kick from which the hosts equalised.

Sure enough, Aurier delivered a reminder that he remains a liability with a stupid foul on Justin on the stroke of half-time. The full-back was moving away from goal and there was limited danger when Aurier clattered through the back of him. Referee Craig Pawson had little choice but to award the spot-kick after reviewing the pitch-side monitor..

It was the fourth penalty Aurier has given away in the Premier League since his debut in 2017, with only David Luiz (five) conceding more in the same period.

And it was far from the only mistake he made on an afternoon where he often squandered possession and looked lost defensively.

Mourinho had seen enough after an hour, replacing Aurier with Harry Winks and moving to Moussa Sissoko to right-back. Matt Doherty can now expect a run in the side.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in