Tottenham Hotspur picked up a convincing 3-1 win over Bodø/Glimt yesterday in the first leg of the Europa League semi-final.
The Lilywhites had 24 attempts on goal and the result showed their individual quality over their Norwegian opponents.
Despite the defeat, Bodø/Glimt players seem to be quite confident that they can upset Tottenham in the second leg, even noticing and publicly talking about potential weaknesses already.
After the tie, defender Fredrik Sjøvold spoke to Avisa Nordland about Tottenham’s pressing and the weakness he believes he’s identified.
He said, via VG: “We just have to play simple and not give the ball away too easily. I think their pressure will collapse pretty quickly. Then we can cause trouble.”
The right-back, who didn’t really have a great game on Thursday, stated that Tottenham’s press is at the same level as that of a mid-table Eliteserien team.
“It’s a very good team and they’re good with the ball, but the pressure is no better than an okay Eliteserie team. It’s possible to play it out.”
Defender Jostein Gundersen also made it clear that Eliteserien teams are often more difficult to break down.
He stated: “It is often more difficult to break down Eliteserien teams in that phase of the game.”
Midfielder Ulrik Saltnes also spoke about something similar, stating that Bodø/Glimt will exploit Tottenham’s disjointed pressing in the second leg.
“I would say that it is possible to exploit. It is something we have figured out quite well, and which I hope we can exploit even more in the home game.”
It is fair to say that Tottenham certainly have an issue with their pressing, which leads to them being open across the pitch.
That is a key reason why teams have played through them often this season and is a possible reason behind why they are rooted to the bottom half of the table.
Bodø/Glimt have identified the right problem and even if it may come across as arrogance, they were a team in form before the first leg and the comments from players show that they haven’t given up yet.
Having said that, Tottenham’s individual quality could just give them an advantage in the second leg.
