Huddersfield Town head to Wembley to face Spurs at the weekend following consecutive Premier League victories against Bournemouth and West Brom. It’s likely to be a tough afternoon for Town, and David Wagner will be scratching his head trying to think of ways to play against Spurs.
Here are a few of the approaches we’ve seen so far this season when we’ve come up against the top teams in the Premier League.
The standard 4-2-3-1 approach
Town’s first game against a top six team came against Spurs last September and Wagner played the standard gegenpressing 4-2-3-1 system that he’s favoured during his time in Huddersfield.
Arguably Town were on top for the first five minutes and the game was wide open. We crashed a shot against the crossbar when it was 0-0 and it could have been a very different game if we’d have scored first. However, Kane was bang on form that day and we were soundly beaten 4-0,
The speed and skill of Spurs forward line was frightening at times, and it was largely accepted after the game that we were too open and against the top teams, we’ll be picked off on the break if we’re too aggressive.
This thinking has been undermined lately, as Town played very well against Manchester United using this system in the recent 2-0 defeat FA Cup. Although, we did ultimately lose that game, so perhaps this system is still vulnerable to break away goals from strikers like Kane or Lukaku.
The “Berlin Wall” system
It’s not pretty to watch, but sitting deep and soaking up pressure can be an effective way to nullify the opposition if they have better players than us. The best example of this style came against Manchester United at home, were we packed the midfield with three deep-lying midfielders and only pressed when United entered our half.
The goals we scored that day came from breaking away at speed after capitalising on Man United’s errors. So it only really works when top-class players make silly mistakes. It also requires aggressive pressing once the opposition advance but still not leaving spaces between midfield and defence.
Chelsea at home, Liverpool in both fixtures, and Manchester United away have all seen this system quite easily picked apart. Town offered so little going forward in those games that it felt like watching a training exercise at times, with the opposition camped in our half and patiently waiting for some space to exploit.
Three at the back
This is a system that we’ve not used a lot this season, though there have been games where it’s been experimented with. I get the feeling Wagner doesn’t really like playing in this shape but also recognises that we’ve struggled against teams that play three centre-backs and he’s not yet found a solution.
Against Liverpool at home we played this system, with Mounié and Depoitre up front together from the start. The problem was that we lacked width in attacking areas and it was relatively easy for Liverpool to snuff out attacks.
While it’s not worked well in previous attempts, I think this system could play to Town’s strengths. Kongolo, Zanka, and Schindler would be a strong back three which would allow our fullbacks more licence to roam up the pitch. The way we’ve played this system in the past has been more like five at the back, and it’s been too negative. If we play with positivity I think it might be a way to pose a threat to the opposition but keeping enough players back to effectively defend counter attacks.
Which system should Town play against Spurs?
I trust David Wagner to pick the right formation and players for the game against Tottenham, but I also like to speculate about what I’d do in his position too. In his shoes, I think I’d probably choose a system that allowed Pritchard to play in behind Mounié, as that partnership is developing nicely and it would be a shame to break it up.
Playing the 4-2-3-1 system would allow Town to have some continuity from their recent victories, but it would probably need to be adapted to try to contain Spurs’ attacking threat. It would be the most positive system we’re likely to play, but also the most vulnerable.
The alternative would be to play three at the back, with wing-backs that can tuck in and defend when needed but charge forward when we’re in possession. This would mean we could clog up midfield with three central players, then play Pritchard behind Mounié.
I think playing with three at the back would give us a solid base to play from but it will depend on the whole team playing at a high tempo, and pushing up field when we get the ball back. It might not work, but it would be interesting to see Town experiment with this formation.
Here’s the kind of team Wagner could pick if he wants to play this system:
