The four-part blueprint Wolves used to beat Tottenham and nullify Angeball
Gary O’Neil is the only manager to beat Ange Postecoglou home and away this season – here’s how he did it
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM — Here’s a tip for any Premier League manager plotting a way of disrupting and defeating Angeball: copy Gary O’Neil’s blueprint.
Wolves aren’t the only team to have beaten Ange Postecoglou‘s Tottenham this season, but they are so far the only ones to have done so twice. O’Neil’s side were deserving 2-1 winners at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday, just as they were in the corresponding fixture at Molineux in November.
Spurs fans could be forgiven for thinking they’ve seen this particular movie again and again. Since Wolves earned promotion to the Premier League in 2018, no other team has beaten Spurs more times in their own stadium than the men in gold (or red on this occasion) with their four wins level with both Chelsea and Liverpool. They are to Spurs what Spurs are to Manchester City, an irrepressible nuisance.
The latest victory was especially impressive given how comprehensive it was. Besides a 20-minute spell after half-time when Spurs were on top – a period that coincidentally included Joao Gomes’ match-winning goal – they were superior where it mattered; in both boxes.
After the game, O’Neil praised his players for executing “four key parts” of his gameplan to a “near enough perfect” level. Here’s a look at how Angeball was conquered by Gazball.
Low block defence
Spurs registered more shots on goal than Wolves (15 to 12) but had almost half as many shots on target (four to seven) and struggled to carve clear-cut opportunities all game.
To emphasise the point, Ben Davies created three chances, as many as James Maddison and Son Heung-min combined. The Welshman also squandered their best chance with a miscued header in the fourth of five added minutes at the end of the second half.
