Welcome to The Debrief, a Sky Sports column in which Adam Bate uses a blend of data and opinion to reflect on some of the key stories from the latest Premier League matches. This week:
- Vicario highlights flexibility under Frank
- Forest show signs of evolving their style
- Man Utd’s possession and the xG debate
Tottenham showing flexibility early
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Having been in Udine to see Tottenham come close to doing a number on Paris Saint-Germain, the question was whether or not they would be able to adjust their style of play three days later against Burnley. Thomas Frank answered that emphatically.
The passing of Guglielmo Vicario illustrated that most clearly in their 3-0 win on Saturday. Having directed the ball long against PSG, the Spurs goalkeeper switched the focus to ball retention against Burnley, attempting only two kicks over the halfway line.
In fact, Spurs as a side attempted the most passes inside their own half of any team on the opening weekend of the Premier League season. Frank pointed out afterwards that the move for Richarlison’s second goal featured 17 passes – and included Vicario.
Richarlison impressed again and with 13 goals in his last 16 starts, is emerging once more as a robust alternative to Dominic Solanke. The Brazilian registered three shots on target inside the penalty box – equalling his record for any game in his Premier League career.
In midfield, Frank trusted two teenagers, Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall, with Rodrigo Bentancur and Joao Palhinha dropping to the bench. At the back, Kevin Danso, the new long-throw specialist, made way to accommodate Brennan Johnson – who duly scored.
It has been a promising start for Frank, particularly given that he had to manage those midweek exertions in Italy. His flexibility was a factor in his appointment, having been a persistent source of criticism for his predecessor and he got the balance right against Burnley.
Spurs not only created, scoring three against a side that did not even concede two in a single league game last season, but did so while keeping a clean sheet – their first in this competition since February and as many as in their previous 18 home games.
It is Manchester City away next, which will be as difficult as it gets. But Frank has already shown supporters that he is capable of setting this team up in whatever way that the match situation demands. Keep a close eye on Vicario’s pass choices in that one.
Forest’s change of approach?
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A build-up attack is defined as a sequence in open play that contains 10 or more passes and ends either in a shot on goal or at least a touch inside the box. The team that did that the most times on the opening Premier League weekend was Nottingham Forest.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s team did it seven times in their 3-1 win over Brentford, which is unusual because the most they managed in any game last season was just five. They ranked bottom but one in the Premier League for build-up attacks during that campaign.
Of course, it was a hugely successful season for Forest in which they came so close to securing Champions League football. But their style was built on containment without the ball and counter-attacking with it – they ranked top for the direct speed of their attacks.
There was still evidence of that in beating Brentford. Chris Wood’s second goal came from a transition and it is clear that Forest will keep setting the traps that did for so many last year. But against Brentford there were also examples of clever pressing, of a possession game.
Forest completed 126 passes in the final third – the most of any Premier League team. After a pre-season in which Nuno complained about the lack of additions and one that featured no fewer than five goalless draws, maybe they have added some new aspects, after all.
That could prove important. Had Forest beaten Leicester at home – or indeed Brentford at the City Ground – towards the back end of last season, it could have been enough for a top-five finish. The manner of this performance suggests Nuno is out to address that.
Man Utd’s promising possession stats
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Roy Keane may have bemoaned the erosion of standards that have led to Manchester United’s home defeat to Arsenal being viewed as a positive step but the reality is that Ruben Amorim’s side exceeded most expectations with their performance on Sunday.
It was not just that they caused one of the title favourites such problems but it was the way that they dominated the ball that surprised. Regardless of the game state, United have not done that against one of the top teams for a long time – and the stats back that up.
In Premier League matches against Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City – last season’s top four and the favourites to contend this time around – you have to go back almost a decade to find an example of United having 60 per cent of the possession.
All three examples since Sir Alex Ferguson left came under Louis van Gaal in 2015. If Amorim can begin to fuse the possession game of the Dutchman with the potent running power of new signings Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha then there is hope.
Both Mbeumo and Cunha had chances to mark their Premier League debuts for the club with a goal. That they did not owes something to David Raya in the Arsenal goal and that dreaded phrase ‘regression to the mean’ that has been muttered about both men.
Mbeumo scored 20 goals for Brentford last season from an expected-goals tally of just 12.26. In every single game in which he had better chances than this last season, he scored. Remarkably, the same statistic was also true of Cunha. Rotten luck for United.
And yet, despite that disappointment, the overriding feeling is that if Amorim can keep getting the ball to his talented ball carriers in good areas then, whether it is Benjamin Sesko or Mason Mount up front with them, United will be a very different proposition this season.
