Tottenham Hotspur lost the first-leg of their Champions League round-of-16 tie against RB Leipzig last week, with Timo Werner’s second-half penalty separating both sides.
With Harry Kane and Son Heung-min out injured, the hosts were without a recognized striker against the Bundesliga side, and boss Jose Mourinho had to deploy Dele Alli and Lucas Moura upfront.
The Portuguese opted to go direct against Leipzig, with Toby Alderweireld often playing long balls up to the forwards, but it didn’t particularly go down well with one Spurs star.
According to The Athletic’s Charlie Eccleshare, Alli was so frustrated at the Belgian doing it that he turned to the defender and threw his hands up in the air.
It didn’t work in the end, though, with the midfielder struggling to make an impact and getting hauled off 19 minutes into the second-half.
Going direct has been a constant part of Tottenham’s play since Mourinho arrived in November, with Alderweireld regularly playing long balls to the front to catch opposition defences off guard.
Given the pace of Moura, Steven Bergwijn and Son, more of it should be expected going forward, but as the case was against Leipzig, it won’t always work against some type of defences and oppositions, and a lack of plan B could hurt Spurs.
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