Aston Villa defeated Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 away from home and booked their spot in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
The Villans are through to the next round of the FA Cup and left Spurs behind. It looked like it was going to be much easier considering how the first half went, but the hosts made it interesting after the break.
What gave Aston Villa the edge over Tottenham?
Movement and manipulation by the front four
Unai Emery’s 4-2-2-2 is rather famous at this stage and opponents are well aware of how well it can function.
To try and counter it, Thomas Frank set his Spurs side to defend in a compact and narrow 4-4-2. The idea was to stop Emi Buendia and Morgan Rogers from receiving the ball with space to run into in central areas.
And for around 20 minutes, it did work. But Emery knew that and orchestrated a few switches that led to them breaking the deadlock.
Surprisingly, their first goal came in a passing sequence that happened 100% down the middle. Which is exactly what Tottenham were trying to avoid.
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Right-attacking midfielder John McGinn moved inside while centre-attacking-midfielder/second-striker Morgan Rogers went wide. Meanwhile, on the other side, left-attacking-midfielder Buendia tucked inside while striker Donyell Malen opened up out on the left wing.
These simple adjustments were enough to confuse the opposition and allow for a passing sequence in the central corridor that led to the goal.
Out of the four, three recorded a goal involvement: Malen (assist), Buendia (goal and assist), Rogers (goal). McGinn had an indirect hand in the build-up for the opener.
For the second, Malen, Buendia and Rogers ran ragged inside the box against eight Spurs defenders.
The Spaniard tactician also tinkered with McGinn’s positioning out of possession. Ben Davies was finding a lot of space on his back and overloading Matty Cash, since Mathys Tel dragged him inside. We often saw McGinn much more retreated than Buendia on the opposite wing and those opportunities for Tottenham ceased to exist.
Forced sub a blessing in disguise
Emery had to replace Boubacar Kamara with Youri Tielemans early on. Losing their best defensive midfielder to an apparent knee injury is never good news, but the substitution made team more adequate to the scenario in front of them.
Thomas Frank let Villa have the ball for most of the first half and he doesn’t like risks or exposing his backline too often. So a double pivot of Kamara and Lamare Bogarde is not particularly great at moving the ball around and breaking down low blocks.
Lo and behold, it was Tielemans who started the passing sequence that led to the first goal. Neither Kamara nor Bogarde would have the technique and courage to pull off a risky, accurate and incisive pass down the middle like the one the Belgian did.
And it was the weakest link in Aston Villa’s midfield who made two errors that led to shots in the second half. One of them ended up gifting Randal Kolo Muani the ball in the build-up to Wilson Odobert’s goal.
Still, depending on the extent of Kamara’s injury, it could be a huge blow to Villa’s ambitions going forward. Especially because Amadou Onana is also out injured and hasn’t featured since the turn of the year.
Thomas Frank’s stubbornness cost Spurs
Thomas Frank set up a coherent defensive plan to deal with the central presence of Aston Villa’s front four. He even ‘gave up’ passing lanes to Matty Cash and Ian Maatsen on the wings in an attempt to force the opponents out wide, by doubling on Buendia and Rogers and leaving the full-backs open. But the Dane failed to adjust as they moved around and lost defenders.
And the worst part is that, for a brief five-minute period, Tottenham managed to suffocate Villa. They stepped their lines up and ‘bit’ a lot. It made the guests uncomfortable, with the front four always receiving the ball with their backs turned to the goal and a defender on them.
| Stats (13′-20′) | Tottenham | Aston Villa |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 55% | 45% |
| Shots | 2 | 0 |
| Tackles | 2 | 1 |
| Interceptions | 3 | 0 |
As a result, Spurs recovered possession quickly all the time and the Villans couldn’t play. Ironically, it’s how they got their only goal, with a quick recovery from Kolo Muani. Early on, Ben Davies stood out with a number of key interceptions and anticipations.
And yet, Frank never seemed to identify the best version of his side in the first half. After that brief period, he went back to mid and low blocks, letting Villa pass the ball around at the back. Which is exactly how they opened the scoring.
They conceded first from a central passing sequence despite turning all their focus and efforts into denying just that. And then allowed four opponents to get the best out of eight men inside their own box to add a second. But when they pressed with intensity and energy, Villa couldn’t even cross the halfway line.
Frank did revert to that version in the second half. Their final 45 minutes were much better and slightly encouraging considering what the past few weeks have been like. But ultimately it was too late to undo the damage from the first half.
Whether it’s him or someone else in charge for their next game, this identity of the second half and a brief period of the first half could be a blueprint of how to get more out of the squad.