Tottenham left Groupama Arena in Hungary with a 2-1 scoreline and their second victory in as many games of Europa League action. With that being said, here are some important things to note following the victory.
First off, Tottenham’s second squad, starring multiple teenage up-and-comers such as Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall, takes Ange Postecoglou’s already aggressive style of play and ramps it up another level.
Oftentimes throughout the first half, the team would refuse to give any of Ferencvaros’ defenders a bit of space, throwing more bodies into the penalty area than Tottenham’s starting side did.
You would expect this to lead to more goals, and against other Premier League sides this would probably be the case, but with the team playing lower-level competition in the Europa League, they can take advantage of their youth and speed and commit more players up the pitch and in the attacking third without surrendering the goals that the tactical change would seem to indicate.
The attacking pressure of the front three often draws the full attention of the opposing defense, leaving opportunities to pass the ball back out for an open long-range shot, which Sarr is readily available to take.
Not only does the pressure create these opportunities, but it also leads to moments where the ball is knocked out into the open out of desperation from the opposing defense, creating a chance for a player to run up and get a free shot on the goal, which is exactly what Sarr did in the 23rd minute of Thursday’s match.
Speaking of goal scorers, Brennan Johnson’s form needs to be talked about more than it already is. Johnson scored in the 86th minute of the match, after coming on as a substitute in the 65th minute of the match, which is now his 5th straight match getting on the scoresheet.
The winger has been on absolute fire ever since his rough outing against Arsenal on September 15th, a trend Tottenham supporters will hope to see continue this Sunday when Tottenham travel to face off against Brighton & Hove Albion.
Gray had multiple moments where he shined, including a moment in the 61st minute where he invited pressure from multiple defenders in his own corner of the pitch in order to make a clever pass around the both of them to get the ball moving back towards the midway line.