Iraola's smart press stifled Spurspublished at 17:12 BST 2 September
Umir Irfan
Football tactics correspondent
Tottenham's brilliant start under Thomas Frank came to a halt against Bournemouth.
Famed for his ability to implement a great press, Cherries boss Andoni Iraola came up with an interesting tactic that nullified Spurs.
Bournemouth funnelled Spurs down their left, setting up in what looked like an asymmetrical 4-3-1-2 press that did two things.
The first was to ensure Bournemouth had an extra player back to try to defend the direct balls Spurs like to play. If they were to match the hosts' 4-2-4 shape man to man as Manchester City did at times last week, Bournemouth would not have an extra player defensively to help mop up some of those second balls. They instead chose very specific moments to go man to man.
The second thing it did was funnel the ball into players who were less able to execute Frank's instructions. Brennan Johnson struggled receiving direct passes into his feet when Spurs went more direct from Micky van de Ven. His game is predicated on off-the-ball runs into the box to finish off chances, rather than strong hold-up play. By comparison, Mohammed Kudus' press resistance when dropping deep on the right is perfect for executing Frank's tactical plan in build-up.
By forcing Spurs down one side, the clever angled press - aided by the players' body shape, intensity and intelligent swapping of who they were marking when the ball was passed - prevented the home side from showcasing their quality.
Perhaps the introduction of more accomplished passers under pressure - Xavi Simons, James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski - as the season progresses will provide Frank's men a passing solution from deep against intelligent pressing.
If they are to go direct, they require better hold-up play from their wide men on the left.
Bournemouth's intentions were to force Spurs to play on their weaker left side, curving their runs to lock off the right side of the pitch
