Recreating Pochettino's Spurs 16/17 - Two Tactical Systems in FM23

[GCVS00]

As a fan of Spurs and someone who loves learning about different coaches' tactical styles, Mauricio Pochettino’s tenure at Spurs is extremely impressive. Not only did he do a phenomenal job considering the resources afforded to him (getting to the UCL final being his most impressive achievement), he did so playing an incredibly attractive, tactically astute brand of football. In this recreation in FM23, I will be recreating Poch’s 16/17 tactics at Spurs, our most dominant season in the Prem during his time. I’m also recreating his tactics in hopes that he returns, but anyway, let’s get into the tactics.

 

Tactics:

During the 16/17 season, Poch clearly preferred the 4-2-3-1, using it in the majority of our games, while also using a 3-4-2-1. However, the fluidity of the 4-2-3-1 and versatility of our players meant that we could switch seamlessly between systems in game. Even though this is the case, there were some key differences in the personnel selected for each tactic. I will be looking at the 4-2-3-1 first.

 

4-2-3-1:

So there are minor differences in the various ways the 4-2-3-1 was played, but they mostly come down to the personnel selection in the double pivot, as the rest of the principles remain mostly the same.

Keeper: SK-D

I selected the SK-D role for this tactic. I deliberated about whether or not this should be a G-D, given Lloris’s noticeable deficiencies with playing with the ball at his feet and claiming crosses/controlling the box, but I opted for SK-D because of the possession-based principles that Poch emphasized. However, this role won’t look to take too many unnecessary risks so I feel it fits well. If you have a better keeper, I would recommend making this a SK-S or even a SK-A if they can play it.

LB: WB-S

The Danny Rose/Ben Davies role. One of the hallmarks of Poch’s system is how high and wide the fullbacks got. Both Danny Rose and right back Kyle Walker were known for bombing up and down the pitch and wrecking havoc. For this position, I have opted for a WB-S, as this role will get further forward than a typical fullback, while also having more defensive responsibility than some of the other, more offensive roles. I also feel like this role gives the tactic some more defensive stability.

CBs: BPD-D

The Belgian Duo. How I wish we had more defenders like Jan and Toby in our defense right now. These two defenders were absolutely vital to Poch’s system. Fearless in putting their bodies on the line and reliable and comfortable in possession, I feel as though having both defenders as a BPD makes sense. However, I have decided to add dribble more to the LCB (Vertonghen’s role) and dribble less to the RCB (Alderweireld’s role), as Jan was better at carrying the ball and Toby was better at progressing the ball through his long balls and diagonals from the back. Additionally, both CBs have stay wider on them, largely due to a specific role in the double pivot which I will get to later.

RB: WB-A

I have given the RB the role of WB-A. I feel like this is self-explanatory as Walker and Tripper were known for being the more offensive set of fullbacks on the team and adhere to the aforementioned fullback principles Pochettino has.

Pivot:

I have decided to talk about the two roles of the pivot in the same section, as their behavior depends greatly on who is playing where. Spurs had three pivots who were in blistering form this season: Mousa Dembele, Victor Wanyama, and Eric Dier, all of whom behaved differently from one another. Mousa Dembele, one of my favorite players in this team, was known for his incredible dribbling ability, providing Poch’s Spurs an outlet to progress the ball if our normal build-up play wasn’t working. For the Mousa Dembele role on the left of the pivot, I have decided on a SV-S with Tackle Harder and Dribble More Selected. Victor Wanyama and Eric Dier were also ever present in the team, with both performing different roles in the right DM slot. For Wanyama in the right DM position, I have opted for a BWM-D role, as even though he would stay deeper and hold position, he would also be a more mobile DM who would look to press and win the ball back. For Eric Dier, I have chosen the HB-D role, as he would frequently drop between the CBs to form a back three in possession. For when Wanyama and Dier played together, I selected Wanyama to play as the left pivot, with a BWM-S role, with dribble more selected. Personally, I think the Dembele-Dier pairing works best in this match engine, but there are options in this system.

LW: IF-A

For Son’s role in the team, I have chosen the IF-A role. I feel like this role perfectly describes Son, willing to make darting runs into the channel and playing very direct soccer.

CAM: SS-A

For the Dele Alli role, I have chosen the SS-A. This role encapsulates what Dele offered to this Spurs team: intelligent movement off ball, combining with the striker, and pressing aggressively.

RW: AP-S

My other favorite player on this Spurs team, Christian Eriksen, was absolutely world-class playing out wide. For this role, I have selected the AP-S. It captures the movements Eriksen would make in possession, coming deeper and more central to pick up the ball, allowing for the creative RB to naturally overlap and have space to cross the ball or cut it back. I deliberated on whether to put a couple player instructions on this role, but ultimately settled for Cross from Deep. I feel like this replicates the early crosses and killer balls that Eriksen was known for (seriously, look up Eriksen compilations, the man was insane). This player needs to have the “tries killer balls” trait.

ST: DLF-S

This season, Kane won the golden boot with 29 goals. Known for his devastating finishing, his ability in the air and his hold-up player were vital for this Spurs team. Additionally, his inter-play with the rest of the front four made Spurs’ attack extremely dangerous and fluid. I settled on the DLF-S role here, as I think it makes the best use of Kane’s hold-up and passing ability. However, I also have “shoots more often” selected, as I want this role to score goals, not solely be a creative role.

 

Instructions in Possession:

I have selected instructions I think will best represent Poch's possession based but also direct in-possession play and his aggressive, counter-pressing transitional and out of possession play. For in-possession, I chose fairly narrow because Poch liked the front four to be very narrow, allowing the wingbacks to naturally provide width. I decided to on shorter passing with a slightly higher tempo and playing out of defense to recreate the possession based but also direct build-up play. Finally, I chose run at defense to reflect the emphasis on 1v1 dribbling and aggressive take-on's that Spurs were also known for under Poch.

 

In Transition:

For In Transition, I chose take short kicks and distribute to CBs and FBs to reflect Lloris's inability to distribute the ball further up the field, playing it safe and retaining possession by getting it to the backline. Counter and counter-press are self-explanatory, as they were hallmarks of Poch's system.

 

Out of Possession:

For this tactic, I have selected a higher line, with step up more, and much more intense pressing to capture the electricity of Spurs' press under Pochettino. I also have get stuck in selected to reflect the aggressive mindset Poch wanted to enstill (Battle of Stamford Bride anyone?)

Edited April 11, 2023 by GCVS00

[GCVS00]

3-4-2-1:

The other main tactical setup Poch utilized during the 16/17 season was the 3-4-2-1. Towards the middle of the season, Poch began experimenting with using a 3-4-3/3-4-2-1 as the base formation. This transition was very easy, as the 4-2-3-1 shares a lot of similar principles and shape in possession as the 3-4-2-1 did. 

Keeper: SK-D

Same justification as the 4-2-3-1

LCB: WCB-D or WCB-S

So for this role I chose to pick two possible choices. The outside CBs in this system stay wider to cover the space vacated by the attacking fullbacks. For Vertonghen’s role, it is very dependent on the opposition formation. If the opposition is playing with two strikers, keep this role on defend, to offer more defensive solidity. However, if the opposition is only playing with one striker, there is no point in keeping a 3v1 when a 2v1 is still an advantage in Spurs’ favor. In this case, put this role on WCB-S so that the LCB will play more in the midfield and give us a further advantage there. Add dribble more as a player instruction here.

CCB: BPD-C

The deepest point in the back three, Toby was an absolute anchor here. Much like in the 4-2-3-1, he is not expected to progress the ball through dribbling, so select dribble less as a player instruction.

RCB: WCB-D

For similar reasons in the LCB explanation, the RCB is expected to stay wider. This is the role in the play three that Eric Dier would play, and as he is less adept at passing the ball, he was expected to progress the ball through dribbling in wider areas.

Both Wingbacks: WB-A

The main source of width in this tactic, both wingbacks will look to be extremely aggressive in wide areas. Thus, WB-A works well for both of these players, especially given the cover the back three provides. Also, add close down more for these players to get them more involved in the press.

Right Pivot: BWM-D, BWM-S, DM-S

I struggled picking one specific role for this position. Wanyama’s role in the back three was to be a destroyer, the deepest midfielder who provided cover to the three centerbacks. I thought a BWM-D could replicate this well, especially given that it’s more defensive than the other two, but I feel like a fourth defense role is a little overkilled. Thus, I feel like a BWM-S or DM-S could work well as well, but might leave too much space vacated in front of the back three. I feel like you can tinker with this role a bunch, but player instructions should be close down more and tackle harder.

Left Pivot: SV-S

Exact same rationale and player instructions as in the 4-2-3-1 explanation

RAM: AP-S

Again, same rationale as above. Make sure to add move into channels, as well as training the player here to try killer balls more often

LAM: SS-A

This role was played by both Dele and Son in the 3-4-2-1, as Poch typically dropped one of his attackers to get all of Dier, Wanyama, and Dembele onto the pitch. 

ST: DLF-A

I wanted to make sure our attack kept the same number of attack duties as in the 4-2-3-1, so I chose to make this role a DLF-A instead of on support.

 

Instructions remain the exact same as for the 4-2-3-1. Thank you all for reading and if you want to learn more about Poch’s Spurs, these are the sources I used:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EkcNB2AEsc

https://breakingthelines.com/tactical-analysis/tactical-analysis-mauricio-pochettinos-tottenham-hotspur/

https://breakingthelines.com/tactical-analysis/peak-pochettino-analyzing-the-tactics-behind-tottenhams-2016-17-season/

Edited April 11, 2023 by GCVS00

[Johnny Ace]

Nice one @GCVS00!! Spurs were great to watch back then and Alli was at his best  

[yuchd]

Love the HB role in 4231DM in reality, but in FM the HB in 4231 will still try to drop into center of 2 CBs, instead of dropping into WCB position like what Krunic/Bennasser doing in Milan's 4231 system. This makes the transition more vulnerable as they have to travel more distance than a HB in 433 system when losing ball.

Edited April 11, 2023 by yuchd

[Timothy.]

Fellow spurs fan here. I too would love Poch back. Great write up, think you've covered it all pretty well! I wouldn't say we were direct though. I wouldn't say there was a set style with the ball. It was more patiently probing hoping for an overload and if none came then it was mainly down to Eriksen to create. 

[GCVS00]

8 hours ago, Johnny Ace said:

Nice one @GCVS00!! Spurs were great to watch back then and Alli was at his best  

Thank you. We were so fun to watch. Here's hoping Spurs and Dele get back to their best!

[GCVS00]

2 hours ago, Timothy. said:

Fellow spurs fan here. I too would love Poch back. Great write up, think you've covered it all pretty well! I wouldn't say we were direct though. I wouldn't say there was a set style with the ball. It was more patiently probing hoping for an overload and if none came then it was mainly down to Eriksen to create. 

Maybe direct wasn't the correct word. I just meant our possession style wasn't dominated by short passing and low tempo. I actually googled it, for the 17/18 season we were third (I think?) in long balls played.

[GCVS00]

Just updated to add the 3-4-2-1!

[The3points]

11 hours ago, yuchd said:

Love the HB role in 4231DM in reality, but in FM the HB in 4231 will still try to drop into center of 2 CBs, instead of dropping into WCB position like what Krunic/Bennasser doing in Milan's 4231 system. This makes the transition more vulnerable as they have to travel more distance than a HB in 433 system when losing ball.

If you want a role to drop by the side you could use DM-D or potentially DLP-D with stay wider. If they have the trait come deep to get ball even better.