Frank Christian
On Saturday, Tottenham delivered a stunning 4-0 defeat to Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium, highlighting City’s current struggles and lack of confidence.
Manchester City, who have dominated the Premier League by securing the championship for the last four seasons, hadn’t faced a home defeat since their narrow loss to Brentford in November 2022.
This loss was even more significant, marking Pep Guardiola’s team as having lost three consecutive league matches and five overall in all tournaments.
As Guardiola seeks solutions to lift his team’s spirits with an upcoming match against Feyenoord in the UEFA Champions League—followed by a challenging fixture against league leaders Liverpool—Tottenham’s coach Ange Postecoglou hinted at a strategy to exploit the current weaknesses of the reigning champions.
The approach of rapid transitions to wingers Dejan Kulusevski and Son Heung-min was crucial for Spurs in breaking through the City’s defensive lines. The game’s momentum shifted when Kulusevski intercepted Josko Gvardiol and set up James Maddison for his opening goal just 13 minutes in.
“We recognized the importance of our strategy,” Postecoglou reflected. “Defensive moments were inevitable, but getting the ball to Deki and Sonny quickly was key. City’s aggressive defensive style often plays to their strengths as they like man-to-man marking with their skilled defenders.”
“With Dom [Solanke] in play, we were keen on adopting this approach early in the game. While executing it isn’t always simple, we continued pressing to find those pivotal areas. Every attempt stirred significant threats, leading to some excellent goals.”
Liverpool players like Mohamed Salah and Luis Diaz are likely taking note of this tactical display as they prepare to further challenge City at Anfield.
