Squad Enhancements Pay off for Tottenham in Champions League Win over CSKA

As successful as the occasion was, Tottenham Hotspur’s return to Champions League football taking place at Wembley rather than White Hart Lane undoubtedly felt strange.

The hope is increased familiarity with their temporary European football home will soon put that right. For now, there was something almost comfortable about the onerous but recognisable task of securing an away win.

Performancewise, the 1-0 victory at CSKA Moscow was much more like it from Tottenham, too. Happily for manager Mauricio Pochettino, the improvements on the 2-1 defeat to Monaco with regards to focus and more thoughtful perseverance were made despite regular starters being absent.

Vincent Janssen again led the line in place of the injured Harry Kane. Erik Lamela came back in for Moussa Sissoko in attacking midfield, while Victor Wanyama stayed on in central midfield with both Mousa Dembele and Eric Dier sidelined. Ben Davies kept his place at left-back, while Kieran Tripper started instead of the rested Kyle Walker at right-back.

Later on in the second half, Georges-Kevin Nkoudou entered on the left wing as Spurs altered their configuration slightly. After Heung-Min Son scored what would prove to be the winner, young midfielder Harry Winks came on to help see the game out.

Pochettino has hardly been lacking for numbers since he became Spurs boss two years ago, but boosted by the new signings in particular, their depth came off looking stronger and enhanced by these different names, not just achieving numerical parity.

Wanyama’s display was as good as any in showing this.

Bar the booking absolutely excellent from @VictorWanyama in the second half protected back 4 again so well.

— Graham Roberts (@GrahamRoberts4) September 27, 2016

As referred to by Tottenham’s 1980s defensive rock Graham Roberts (above), Wanyama’s 11th-minute booking did not bode well.

He had given away possession in the opening minute and did so again when poor control led to him fouling Aleksandr Golovin when trying to win it back. Spurs looked prone to swift counter-attacks in the first-half—usually via target man Lacina Traore—and having their midfield anchor so unsteady did not help.

It was difficult for Wanyama.

Pochettino set the team out to be positive, with Dele Alli spending just as much time in the final third as in a nominal role alongside the Kenyan—as against Middlesbrough on Saturday, the formation veered between 4-1-4-1 and 4-2-3-1. It paid off as the game progressed, but earlier on, Wanyama was sent back-pedalling and having to cover plenty of ground.

Notably, just after the half-hour mark, a CSKA attack down the left drew him and Trippier in. Golovin crossed, and Jan Vertonghen headed out only as far as the edge of the box, but the free Zoran Tosic thankfully shot over.

Like the team in general, Wanyama was patient and found his way into the match.

His touch grew assured, and he became a valuable pivot point as Spurs gradually moved forward, searching for openings in the Russians’ defence. On a few occasions he pushed up himself, but he was mostly content to stay in support.

Roberts’ praise of Wanyama’s protection of the defence was warranted, too. CSKA were not able to attack as much after the interval, but when they …

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