The Champions League knockout phase has begun in the middle of this week. From the last 16 of the first leg, host Tottenham Hotspur received a visit from the German youth team of the Red Bull company, RB Leipzig.
Playing at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with the support of thousands of supporters, Jose Mourinho’s troops had to end the match with a lethargic bowed. The guest managed to bring home the victory to Germany thanks to a goal that could not be returned by Spurs.
Thursday’s match (20/2) actually runs balanced. The two teams attack each other in turn. But none of the Spurs players can break the goal of Leipzig’s keeper, Peter Gulacsi.
Gulacsi’s brilliant performances and loan defender from Chelsea, Ethan Ampadu in the Leipzig defense were able to stem the Spurs’ attack. But the failure of Spurs to score in his home game is also due to the absence of Spurs’ pure stricker.
Their captain and main striker, Harry Kane, was pulled over due to a hamstring injury. From the news released by the club, Kane could be absent until April, or even as a case of hamstring injuries in general, there is a possibility of longer absence.
The absence of Kaneis tackled by bringing Steven Bergwijn from PSV with a tag of 30 million euros. However, Bergwijn is a winger, not a striker that Spurs really need. The presence of Bergwijn in the team composition shifted Son Heung-Min who was forced by Mou to become a striker.
The result was quite good. Son was able to look as productive as when facing Aston Villa last Sunday (16/2). But Son’s impressive performance at the game had to be paid with a fractured arm bone that made him expected to pull over until the end of the season including when facing Leipzig.
Mou was forced to use the remaining player stock when facing Leipzig. Lucas Moura who in fact also plays winger finally installed as a striker supported by the trio of Dele Alli, Gedson Fernandes, and Bergwijn behind him.
The result was far from expectations, 6 shots on target for Spurs to Gulacsi’s goal, no goals. From the match statistics, Spurs also made 5 futile shots that did not lead to the goal.
Finally Jose Mourinho’s decision not to bring in a new striker in the January transfer window must be paid with defeat. Indeed Spurs still have a chance in the second leg, but they will later turn to travel to the stable of Leipzig whose performance is on fire.
Julian Nagelsmann is the figure behind Leipzig’s slick performance this season. In the game Thursday morning, a concoction of his strategy was also able to suppress the Spurs.
Leipzig, who played with the 3-4-2-1 formation, was actually able to squeeze Spurs’ tight defense using a 4-2-3-1 formation. High pressing in front of the opponent’s defensive line is capable of making the Spurs defender difficult.
Finally in the 58th minute, Ben Davies was forced to violate Konrad Laimer in the penalty box. Timo Werner, who became the executor of success, broke down the goalkeeper Lloris who actually also appeared impressive in the match.
As I said, the match actually runs in balance with the record 53% possession of Spurs compared to 47% owned by Lepzig. But, Nagelsmann’s troops recorded more shots (attempted shots) than the host.
Werner et al recorded 6 shots on target, 4 shots off target, and 6 shots that were successfully blocked by the Spurs defense. We can see that the Leipzig attack was more effective and able to create more opportunities despite losing the ball possession. The match statistics also prove Spurs’ attack line is not sharp enough.
Nagelsmann was finally able to prove Mourinho’s decision not to recruit a new striker is a mistake that must be paid handsomely. In addition, Nagelsmann also set a record as the youngest coach to win in the knockout stages of the Champions League. In the fight against Spurs he was 32 years 211 days old.
In fact, Nagelsmann, who has a German passport, is also dubbed “baby Mourinho” or “mini Mourinho” due to their similar coaching careers.
Just like Mou who was less successful as a professional player, Naglesmann also retired early as a professional player. After that Nagelsmann went on to study business before deciding to switch to sports science. It turned out that the same step was also taken by Mou who had entered business school before learning coaching.
Both of them also started the step of professional coaching as assistant coaches. Mou learned to be the head coach when he was an assistant to Bobby Robson and Louis van Gaal. While Nagelsmann had become assistant coach Thomas Tuchel and had become assistant coach and handled the U-19 team at Hoffenheim.
What distinguishes the two is success at a young age as a coach.
Nagelsmann was named German Football Manager of the Year in 2017 when he was 30 years old. His achievements as a young coach also mentioned would be better than Mourinho.
Just for info, Real Madrid was once interested in Nagelsmann as their manager, but he refused Madrid’s offer in order to develop his abilities first.
Mourinho can still boast of his achievements as one of the best and most successful coaches in history. But in the Spurs match against Leipzig on Thursday (20/2), at least Nagelsmann was able to prove that he is a coach with bright prospects in Europe at this time.
Congratulations to Nagelsmann and Leipzig for their victory. And for Mourinho, immediately find the best solution for the Spurs attack line if they still want to compete in the English League and Champions League.
