Can Spurs' depleted defence handle threat of Hwang?

Adrian Clarke looks at key tactical points and players who can be decisive in Matchweek 12.

Tottenham Hotspur

Spurs' back four has lost an incredible amount of pace for Saturday's trip to Wolverhampton Wanderers.

WOL

2-1

TOT

Highlights Available

close

TV Info - Broadcasters

The three quickest players in Ange Postecoglou’s squad will all be a huge loss.

Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie are suspended, while their fastest individual, Micky van de Ven, is also ruled out with a hamstring injury.

Will this unwanted reshuffle impact the Australian’s tactical approach in Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off? Due to the change in personnel, with Eric Dier set to start in the centre of defence alongside someone else, it probably should.

As shown in the table below, Postecoglou's potential replacement starters are not blessed with anywhere near as much pace or natural mobility as the players who will be missing.

Fastest Spurs defenders 23/24

The head coach's bold, aggressive and consistently adventurous style of play is built around having top-class speed at the back.

A fast defence allows Spurs to press with confidence and hold a higher defensive line, safe in the knowledge they have exceptional recovery pace as an insurance policy.

There have been several occasions this season where Spurs' high line has been exposed by runners in behind, but Van de Ven’s speed has helped to rescue those situations.

Below are a couple of examples from their matches against Liverpool and Fulham.

The absence of this extraordinary speed would prompt a lot of managers to adapt their strategy.

Postecoglou could ask his defence to hold a slightly deeper line or tell his players to be more selective with their pressing to protect a slower back line at Molineux.

Yet Postecoglou’s words and actions to date suggest he will not want to compromise his core tactical principles.

High-octane football

When his team are out of possession, Postecoglou wants space to be congested by a collective press. This strategy has helped them regain the ball quickly and effectively.

Spurs crowd opponents in advanced areas and rush them into making mistakes.

As a result their stats for Passes per Defensive Action (PPDA), which measures the intensity of a team’s pressing, are the most impressive in the Premier League.

Teams with best PPDA stats 23/24

But high-octane football like this also comes with risk.

Pushing up to the halfway line leaves space in behind for opponents to run into on the break, as shown in those Van de Ven examples above.

We also saw that on regular occasions in Monday night’s 4-1 defeat at home to Chelsea with nine men.

Statistically it is Spurs who have allowed opponents to progress towards their own goal at the fastest speed so far this season (Direct Speed Against), proving they are a team who get stretched.

Teams with most Direct Speed Against 23/24

If the speed of Spurs' first-choice back four does not save them, the offside flag often does.

They hold their high line to set traps if forwards make their runs too early, with only Aston Villa catching more opponents offside.

Most offsides provoked 23/24

With three new members of the defence set to start at Wolves, their cohesion may not be as well-tuned as usual, so it may be a gamble to set offside traps in this fixture.

It will be interesting to see if these issues become problematic for Spurs against Wolves, or if Postecoglou slightly changes tactics.

Beware of Hwang 

Spurs will be grateful that Wolves’ quickest forward Pedro Neto is not available, but they will face one of the division’s most in-form players in Hwang Hee-chan.

The South Korean is one of only four Premier League players to have scored at least six non-penalty goals so far in 2023/24.

Players with most non-penalty goals (six or more)

Of that quartet, he boasts the best conversion rate, finding the back of the net six times from just 17 shots.

He is quick, which may tempt Gary O’Neil to start him as a central striker, but in recent weeks Hwang has mainly been used on the right side of attack.

From that position, he is excellent at getting into the box to act as a second striker, where he is a natural penalty-box predator, taking 16 of his 17 shots from inside the area.

With a depleted defence, Spurs may struggle to deal with the threat of Hwang.

Also in this series

Part 1: How Doku and Grealish are pushing each other to new levels
Part 2: Why Gordon can thrive up front against Bournemouth