Tottenham tactics: Pochettino needs Spurs to disrespect Brighton

Most match days, Mauricio Pochettino would like his Tottenham squad to show the opponent respect. That isn’t true for Saturday’s match at Brighton.

If you listen closely to Mauricio Pochettino’s words about Tottenham’s last two matches you’ll come to a very interesting conclusion. Spurs are actually showing their opponents too much respect. That’s why Pochettino wants his side to play with a healthy amount of disrespect for Brighton on Saturday.

That isn’t to say Tottenham shouldn’t take the match seriously. Brighton certainly have the quality to extend the club’s hideous losing streak. It does mean that Spurs need to go back to playing their game with a healthy amount of swagger. That’s particularly true of Pochettino’s defenders.

The Argentine gaffer has specifically called out his team for playing too many long balls against Liverpool. Pochettino believes that is a product of showing “too much” respect to Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino. In sharp contrast, the manager applauds his back line for playing the ball out of the back at Inter Milan.

Of course, that wasn’t enough to get Tottenham’s Champions League campaign off on the right foot. The idea of disrespecting the Seagulls must extend to the attack as well. It’s here where Spurs need to show some swagger once again.

Tottenham are at their best when they’re playing stylish, attacking football. The likes of Harry Kane and Christian Eriksen haven’t tried enough audacious moves over the last few matches. If Dele Alli is fit enough to start the match it will certainly help Spurs in that regard. Even if Dele misses out, it’s going to be up to players like Lucas Moura and Erik Lamela to help fill his quotient of borderline arrogant play.

In fairness to Pochettino and his squad, it’s difficult to play with a lot of swagger or confidence in the midst of a three mach losing streak. It’s going to be very challenging for Tottenham to recreate the allure of invincibility without experiencing some legitimate success on the pitch.

That’s not an excuse for not trying though. If Pochettino wants this losing streak to reach its merciful conclusion, his team will need to play like they know they’re miles better than Brighton. It’s the manager’s challenge to create the mood in the dressing room ahead of the suddenly very important away fixture.