What went wrong for Leicester against Spurs?

The player who really struggled to impact the game through this was Youri Tielemans, in the first half, the Belgian only made a single key pass – in the 42nd minute, when the Foxes already found themselves three goals down. He struggled to find pockets of space to receive the ball from the defenders, and was limited to a recycling of the possession game – rather than his progressive game which we’ve seen frequently in recent matches. Given how important he is to building Rodgers’ attacks, neutralising him was an effective nuance from Mourinho.

He wasn’t helped by the lack of movement in the final third, as it was difficult for Leicester City players to find space in a congested defensive structure. Regardless of this, the players needed to work harder to enable space for each other, as ultimately, that’s the way to play through Spurs and Mourinho’s system.

There’s a connotation around movement, that when you offer for the ball and don’t receive it, that you’ve made a “bad” movement. This couldn’t be further from the truth, every individual piece of movement – that is offensive – helps to restructure the oppositions defence. The player may not directly receive the ball after moving, but they’ve given extra space to another player who is now free to collect the ball. It’s the art of decoy runs, causing confusion and it’s what Spurs did so effectively during their little time on the ball.

For example, the first goal, it’s Harry Kane’s movement that not only gives Heung-Min Son space to cut inside and find a higher percentage shot, but it also draws James Justin into an area he doesn’t want to be in as the right wing-back. A slice of fortune for Son, as it takes a wicked deflection of Justin, but it’s the movement that nets Tottenham Hotspur’s the goal.