What went wrong for Leicester against Spurs?

Brendan Rodgers has never beaten “mentor”, Jose Mourinho. Leicester City fell victim to the deep-block, counterattack of Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.

After the loss to Spurs, Mourinho claimed that the game was over in the first-half and given the 3-0 score line, I’d be naive to disagree. So, what went so catastrophically wrong in the opening 45 minutes, that Leicester City – who described the game as a “must win” – ended the half so definitively behind?

Firstly, it’s worth outlining the tactical norms of Mourinho and how he’s utilising this structure at Tottenham. A common theme post-restart is the use of his traditional low-block, essentially meaning both the defensive and midfield line sit in deep, defensive positions when out of possession. This isn’t uncommon for Mourinho, especially with his current Spurs side, as he’s tends to partner this defensive structure with an explosive front-line, ordinarily Harry Kane, Lucas Moira and Heung-Min Son, that looks to utilise counterattacks after sucking the opposition into their defensive third. After watching the opening exchange of the game, it was clear that Mourinho was deploying this system.

The deep-block consisted of the midfield three; Giovanni Lo Celso, Harry Winks, and Moussa Sissoko, sitting goal-side of the ball whenever the Foxes’ back line, or even midfielders were in possession. The idea is to neutralise all the passing lanes, and to let certain individuals – Ryan Bennett and Wes Morgan, carry the ball out of defence and out of their “comfort zones”, as Mourinho worded it.