A Rolls Royce of an attack,
A promising midfield in the making,
But, a rocky defence?

Tottenham's Centre-Back and defensive issues.

A thread:

Spurs' defensive woes go far beyond the backline.
When Jose came in, he took over a team that somewhat believed that:
1: Defending is only a defender's job.
2: Attacking is only an attacker's job.

That's why we kept conceding late goals after going 3-0 up in the early games.

We saw Mourinho use the phrase, "DEFENSIVE PROCESS." so many times.

It means:

The backline isn't solely responsible for stopping attacks. If the opposition manages to reach the defence, it means that the attack's press failed, and the midfield was static, stagnant, and napping.

Soon, the players also understood that no matter where they played, they had an equally important role in the "defensive process."

Our collective system/structure got better.
Attackers began tracking back,
Midfielders kept moving around and reducing the complacency around.

Now, that surely must've meant that we become one of the most rigid defences in the league and that the opposition would have to put a shift to find a way through right?

WRONG.

And this is where we must discuss individuals, at the backline.

I won't talk about Aurier as you know how many mistakes he has made. He is one of the players Mourinho has improved the most, but we've reached an impasse.

And Davies, he is solid, but you just can't expect him to handle pacy wingers.

Doherty and Reguilon have solved that.

This is where the thread truly starts.
Our Centre-Backs:

1: Toby
2: Sanchez
3: Dier
4: Tanganga
5: Foyth
6: CCV

(Tanganga is potentially a makeshift RB
Foyth and CCV out of plans)

This means that we have THREE unrecognised CBs.
Out of that, Dier is still adapting to be one.

1: Toby

Strengths:
i: Positional awareness
ii: Ball-Playing abilities (The Best)
iii: Decision making

Weaknesses:
i: Speed
ii: Aerial dominance (caught too often during defensive set-pieces)

2: Sanchez

Strengths:
i: Pace
ii: Power
iii: Recovery

Perfect physical fit for a CB.

Weaknesses:
i: Concentration
ii: Lack of communication
iii: Error-Prone
iv: Decision making

3: Dier

Strengths:
i: Leadership
ii: Communication
iii: Ball-Playing (Nowhere near Toby though)
iv: Bravery and Ability to handle conflicts

Weakness:
i: Positional awareness
ii: Speed

Mourinho rates Dier as he has the mental qualities to be a good CB, but he isn't there yet.

By listing the strengths and weaknesses of our CBs, I hope instances flash across your memory as to which player has been good/bad in which aspect.

Off to the CB partnerships:
1: Dier & Sanchez
2: Toby & Sanchez
3: Toby & Dier

1: Dier & Sanchez
Balance of pace, power, and leadership.
But completely devoid of positional awareness. This leads to opposition attackers easily finding their way to Hugo.

2: Toby & Dier
Our worst combo. No pace at all, impossible to recover once mistakes are made.

Best Partnership available:

Toby and Sanchez:
Sanchez will recover phenomenally.
Toby will make sure that the backline is in shape.

There's a balance of pace and it actually makes more sense that our best run of games defensively under Mourinho was when these two were paired.

BUT.

The Toby-Sanchez partnership can't sustain every game as Sanchez keeps making a mistake or two. And Toby can't play every game.

We need a new CB. It's clear that we can't go around with just three CBs. An injury/suspension would end any amount of stability we'd have.

We need a CB who can play longballs like Toby, is good aerially, is positionally aware, and has enough pace to play alongside Toby to cover for his lack of pace.

This is why we will spend more on a CB than a Striker.
We want a decent striker, but we NEED an astute CB.

My recommendation:

Ruben Dias.

Strengths:

1: Aerially powerful
2: Positionally aware
3: Excellent with the ball
4: Gritty and aggressive

Weaknesses:

Nothing specific noted as yet.

(Will make a detailed thread on him IF we sign him)

Some of you think Mourinho plays defensive football.
He's not.
He's a coach who plays the appropriate football with the tools available to get the BEST POSSIBLE RESULT.

If he wanted to "park the bus"
We wouldn't sign two heavily attacking fullbacks.

We have a world-class attack.
When Gio & Tanguy play together, we will have a world-class midfield with PEH behind
The FBs will push high

That would mean that there will be two CBs and PEH will sit ahead of Hugo

I can't stress how badly we need both those CBs to be well-rounded

End of thread.

Likes and retweets are very much appreciated.

If you've read this far, then I hope you found this insightful.
Cheers.