"So, it would surely be Spence on the left wing in a 4-2-3-1 system. Everything looked clear when Spurs warmed up on the pitch with a back four of Pedro Porro, Kevin Danso, Cristian Romero and Udogie; the quartet went through a heading drill close to halfway. The Dortmund analysts in the stands took note. It was a ruse. Frank appeared to have no surprise cards to play."
"Now, at a moment of great personal crisis, with his job in the balance after the toxicity of Saturday's 2-1 home loss to West Ham, Frank had rolled the dice. Imagine the optics if it had not worked out, if it had been a similar story to the Arsenal game a cautious approach, an insipid defeat. Actually, it would not have needed a vivid imagination. But it did work out."
Thomas Frank faced severe selection constraints with only 11 established outfield players available for the Champions League tie against Borussia Dortmund. Both Djed Spence and Destiny Udogie were named, leaving Randal Kolo Muani on the bench. Warm-up patterns suggested a back four, misleading opponents before Frank deployed a 3-4-2-1 with Udogie as a left-sided centre-half and Spence at left wing-back. The choice followed a damaging defeat at Arsenal and came amid pressure after a home loss to West Ham. The unconventional, high-risk tactical gamble succeeded, producing a 2-0 result and buying Frank more time.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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