‘It’s tough’: Glenn Hoddle thinks Tottenham duo are a problem without the ball

Tottenham still have a lot to work on following their morale-sapping defeat to Brighton on Sunday.

You can’t argue that Ange Postecoglou has brought the entertainment factor back to Tottenham and they are getting fans off their seats again.

As Tottenham proved when they outclassed Manchester United last week at Old Trafford, they can rip any team apart.

But, unfortunately for them, they are also entertaining rival fans and getting fans on the other side off their seat too.

Spurs capitulated against Brighton and there are no excuses because they were 2-0 up, cruising, before producing a mistake-ridden second-half performance.

As mentioned above, when the London club are on it, they can argue they are probably one of the best teams in the league to watch.

But then they can go from hero to zero in next to no time, with Glenn Hoddle looking at the issues with Postecoglou’s system.

Tottenham like to press high, play a high defensive line, and overload the final third, with the fullbacks coming in and playing as number tens.

That leaves the two centre-backs – Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero – with a lot of open space to defend.

With the ball, Hoddle admitted that his former side look ‘fantastic’, but he thinks life becomes ‘tough’ for the two centre-backs on the ball because there is no width.

Destiny Udogie and Pedro Porro are far up the pitch, so if they lose the ball, then Hoddle thinks the team is in ‘trouble’, as he told Premier League Productions (07/10/24 at 5:25 pm).

Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie without the ball for Tottenham

“The fullback is advanced of him (Werner),” said Hoddle. “If you lose that ball now, then you are in trouble. Udogie is trying to get back. He gets back, fortunately, and they win the ball again. But that happened quite a lot in the second half.

“Then they have handed the ball over again and your fullbacks are all out of position – for me, the two fullbacks going in, works when the ball is further up the pitch, in the middle third and the attacking third. I can understand how that catches people out.

“When the ball is at the back with your centre-backs, the centre-backs, at times, they have to go back to the goalkeeper. They have no width because the fullbacks are inverted in the centre. The wingers are wide coming back towards their own goal. It’s tough for those boys to pick out a pass. It has to be a spot-on pass. So, the percentages are tough, but when it’s going well, it looks fantastic. But there are times in games when your experienced players have to say ‘hang on a minute, let’s get through this five-minute period here’.”

Tottenham’s style of play

Fans may not like to hear it, but this is where Spurs need to take the rough with the smooth because Postecoglou has done a lot of good things at the club.

Yes, Udogie and Porro have been coming under fire, but the whole defence becomes an issue when things go wrong, including Romero being out of form.

READ MORE: Jermain Defoe shares what Tottenham cannot avoid doing now after ‘disappointing’ Brighton loss

This is where patience is needed, Postecoglou needs to be trusted and the team will move forward.

The issue Tottenham have is that they can go from one end of the extreme, in terms of emotion, to the other, in next to no time and that doesn’t help anyone’s cause.