It has become quite clear that Paulinho isn't the player we thought he was, but there is still a role for him at Spurs. He offers us something no one else in our squad does, the ability to cause chaos and run forward. It's time to unleash the Paulinho Tactical Smoke Bomb.
The Paulinho tactic
The devil makes work for idle minds and over the course of this international break a thought has been growing in me. Its started life as a rant, a result of Liverpool’s midfield stifling our static limp wristed attempts to get back in the game. Then slowly it developed. We lacked energy, we lacked penetration, we desperately needed someone bursting beyond Emmanuel Adebayor and making a nuisance of themselves. We lacked a Paulinho.
The former Corinthians midfielder arrived at Spurs with a flamboyant fanfare. It was reported that he was the Brazilian Frank Lampard, given that I wasn’t the biggest admirer of the English version I was concerned, however, I let this go.
The early signs from Paulinho were promising. He was voted the third best player at the Confederations Cup in 2013 and showed a good understanding with Roberto Soldado in a preseason friendly at White Hart Lane, it seemed Paulinho had carried over his form.
Those halcyon days of summer 2013 were a glorious time, the Brazilian had turned down Inter Milan and had chosen the lilywhite over the Real Madrid blanco. The fact that he had opted for us over them didn’t set the alarm bell ringing, it was something to be proud of.
[linequote]A breath taking 30 minute spell against Stoke City reminded us of the player we once had, only for Charlie Adam to stamp out that light[/linequote]
As the new season approached, everyone including you, admit it, thought we had stolen a march on the universe. We chuckled at Man City for spending nearly £10 mill more on the less capped Fernandinho. It was glorious when Bernard opted for Shakhtar Donetsk over Arsenal and even losing out on Willian to Chelsea didn’t matter. “Sit down Mourinho, we’ve got Paulinho.”
The season didn’t start too bad either. He looked dangerous against Crystal Palace in our first Premier League fixture and was duly awarded Man of the Match accolade. This was accompanied by strong performances in Europe and then capped off beautifully with a back heeled last minute winner away to Cardiff from an Erik Lamela assist.
Paulinho who had been named in the Bola de Ouro Team of the Year in 2012, had scored a winner from a Lamela assist. Let that sink in. Remember that moment? The players piling on top of each other, Jan Vertonghen wincing in pain, Lewis Holtby thumping his chest. Lamela and Paulinho uniting to score us a winner. Football, what a gigantic pulsating glob of illogical hope and false dawns. We were being trolled on a grand scale as slowly the world around Paulinho unravelled.
His touch left him, he started to pass to anyone who wasn’t wearing white, he became less penetrative and suddenly we noticed that he run with a hunchback. he earned a ridiculous red card against Liverpool at White Hart Lane and we finally started to look at each other and question: What does he do?
Then just as the question was formed, he was back. A breath taking 30 minute spell against Stoke City reminded us of the player we once had, only for Charlie Adam to stamp out that light. Paulinho never recovered, or never wanted to recover. The injury had reminded him that his place at the World Cup in Brazil was a misjudgment, or reckless moment away. He lost interest in us and his appetite for the game.
[linequote]If harnessed correctly Paulinho is like a musket in a gun fight, loud and crass but unpredictably violent and occasionally lethal[/linequote]
Now over a year later what is left? What Paulinho do we have? Can he offer anything? Is he mentally able to reinvigorate himself after the “Maracanazo” of 2014?
I think what we have to realise is that Paulinho has limitations. He isn’t the central midfielder we thougth he was and in all honesty he isn’t as good as he was made out to be, but there is a role for him. If harnessed correctly Paulinho is like a musket in a gun fight, loud and crass but unpredictably violent and occasionally lethal.
Rewind back to that sunny afternoon at White Hart Lane before the international coma. Liverpool have four across the back with Steven Gerrard positioned just in front of his defence. They are solid, they are compact, they aren’t being turned, everything is in front of them.
Erik Lamela, Christian Eriksen and to a slightly lesser extent Nacer Chadli all love the ball to feet. They like to pick a pass, have a dribble or a shot. Their instinct is to create beauty, what they don’t have is the head down desire to burst into the box. It’s not a skill, it’s a mental thing, Paulinho runs. He runs into the box, he creates chaos. It isn’t controlled, it can’t be tamed, but it can be harnessed, it can be pointed at an organised back five and released.
Against teams with men behind the ball, what you need is someone or something to turn their heads, make them think of something else. You need a player who offers something out of the norm. On this weeks pod Carl Donnelly called Paulinho a smoke grenade, this is exactly what he is. We have all come to the understanding that Paulinho isn’t a Socrates or even a Gilberto Silva, but what he does have is a desire to score and a natural desire to arrive in the box and score a goal. He has the direction and the willingness to break ranks and run forward, he attacks the penalty area, something totally unnatural in Lamela, Eriksen, Chadli and even Emmanuel Adebayor.
[linequote]Occasionally football is defined by those that just do and don’t over think[/linequote]
Paulinho isn’t the player we wanted him to be, but we should still appreciate what we have, he remains, if used correctly, an effective footballer. I wouldn’t dream of playing him in a role where he is required to use technique or any other football function that requires brain power, but in a role where he relies on instinct, he can make the difference.
In last summers Maracanazo where Germany pillaged Brazil in front of their own fans, Paulinho entered at halftime and performed better than most of his teammates. With the whole team brain-dead and relying on instinct, he caused the German back four enough of a headache, that had they not possessed a 4-0 advantage, may have worried them.
Last season despite disappointing for large parts he still managed to score 6 goals, some of which were game changers. Would I start him in my first choice Spurs XI? Perhaps not, but to rule him out as a waste of space is naive.
The Brazilian is a midfielder with a natural energy, exuberance and desire to make runs into the box. I know “he runs forward” isn’t a line lifted straight from Inverting the Pyramid, or something you would jot down in your tactical notepad, but occasionally football is defined by those that just do and don’t over think. Paulinho gets in the box, he causes chaos, but most importantly he scores and he will inadvertently create space for those that do think, and may benefit from seeing a previously closed of avenue of attack.
Before we deposit him in the “complete waste of space/get rid ” category perhaps Pochettino should give the Paulinho “Smoke Grenande/Run forward and create chaos” tactic a chance.
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13 Comments
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11/09/2014 @ 2:22 pm
Paulinho is an average player who was over rated because he was from Brazil. He would do okay in the championship which is the highest level he could realistically aim for.
11/09/2014 @ 2:46 pm
Bit harsh on a Copa Libertadores,World Club Cup and Confederations Cup winner.
Not many Championship players have those medals
11/09/2014 @ 2:43 pm
Sorry mate, couldn’t disagree more.
I appreciate your point about him breaking in the box when teams are behind the ball, but what does he do when he gets there? I lost count of times he shot over the bar last season. His running around is like a confused fly trying to force its way out, continuously failing miserably albeit with a level of effort that is endearing .
He is more than often out of position defensively and his attitude towards chasing back reminds me at times of labouring fast bowler conserving his energy in the outfield….we accept that he doesn’t chase back because, on the evidence of 90% of his play last season, he’d be useless when he got there.
He is by far the most disappointing and frustrating signing of last season.
Give Mason a go!
11/09/2014 @ 2:44 pm
Dont give him any other responsibility other than causing chaos. That is the key to unleashing Paulinho
11/09/2014 @ 3:24 pm
Good synopsis. Its funny I thought he stiffened up the Brasil team when he came on. One thing I noticed with him is that he occupies space well. Brqsil were opened up because no one would occupy the middle. Paulinho does this well. I agree, a 60 min sub is what he is.
11/09/2014 @ 4:33 pm
Excellent article! I completely agree. Paulinho doesn’t work as a holding midfielder and he’s not technical enough or creative enough to be a full-time attacker. However, working alongside a strong DM (Capoue) and creative AM (Erickson/Lamela), he can be that jack-of-all-trades that makes a difference on both ends. He’s an ideal pressing athlete who will harass opponents with the ball and will burst into the box without reserve. He’s makes the squad multiple in what formation they are employing and can even stretch to the wings on occasion. I think his style is ideal for Poch because he can give him a level of freedom to play with confidence and make a difference anywhere on the field. With a few guidelines to keep him responsible on the pitch, he could become a real force that flies under the radar.
20/09/2014 @ 8:12 am
Good article – Paulinho was badly injured by psycho Charlie Adams ( yet again) vicious fouling and never seemed to fully recover, he’s certainly not been at all consistent and did not have any proper runs of games under Mr Boas or Woolwich Sherwood. Great potential to find his feet and come good for Spurs, like Capoue, Lamela and Chadli seem to be on there way to doing so. Now needs a big shot of confidence and our positive support.
11/09/2014 @ 7:39 pm
Along with the other players we bought last year, we kept on trying to find out Paulinho’s best position by changing his role and playing partner every other game. We couldnt get a settled midfield under either of our two incompetent coachs and paid the price in terms of both results and player performance.
14/09/2014 @ 10:36 pm
Agree completely with gary fox. Management last year was so hopeless that by season’s end, no could tell you our best XI, and many players had actually regressed. What kind of player is Paulinho? Pochettino will need until the winter window to answer that same question about every player on the squad.
11/09/2014 @ 8:13 pm
Excellent article, especially this: “Football, what a gigantic pulsating glob of illogical hope and false dawns. We were being trolled on a grand scale as slowly the world around Paulinho unravelled”.
Seeing as you’ve written an article on him you’ve probably seen this link already but just in case:
http://www.101greatgoals.com/blog/paulinho-pulled-off-some-ridiculous-skills-for-spurs-in-3-0-win-over-stoke-gifs/
11/09/2014 @ 9:11 pm
Sorry but I think Paulinho is distinctly average.
I am sick of hearing about how good he was in/for Brazil. He’s just not doing it for us.
All the apologists were blaming AVB and Sherwood and the rest of the Tottemham players for his ineffectiveness last season but at the World Cup, he was poor.
History is littered with average players who shine for an exceptional period and then drop back to mediocrity. I suspect that Paulinho is one of those.
I’d love to be proved wrong though.
11/09/2014 @ 9:39 pm
I agree that he could be an important player in the Poch Spurs. Just like you, I think the team we fielded against Liverpool lacks that ability to create any threat to the space behind their defence, allowing for them to push up on our creative players and reduce the space they have available to them. We become to one-dimensional. In games like that, having both Lamela and Eriksen in the team is not ideal. Paulinho is a guy who can create some havoc, one who can give us another dimension to our attack in those games.
I don’t agree though, in that he wasn’t the player we thought he was. In my opinion he is a fantastic player, but one who got confidence and morale wrecked, alongside the rest of our team, during last years turmoils. We got a player who’s main feat is his great runs into the box, his dynamic playstyle, that creates space for his team mates and troubles for the opponents defence. But he came to Spurs to play under AVB – the manager with the least dynamic approach to football that I’ve ever seen. All the magnificent fluid football we had under Harry was killed during the AVB era. It hurt all players, but none as much as Paulinho. Extremely static football will hurt a dynamic player.
Paulinho came from a couple of season of magnificent progress and success, and under the spell of a manager that simply killed everything that he does well. He showed what he can do in a few games, but as you say – when he got back to playing well – he got mangled by the fat bully in Stoke. It was a terrible season for him, and you can’t really blame him for having his head in Brazil when the entire club seemed low on morale and without anything to really play for.
If Poch can get this guy back to playing his best football, we have a star player on our hands. He’ll score 10+ goals if he is a regular starter as one of our 3 behind the striker, and, just as importantly, he’ll create a lot of space for team mates.
22/09/2014 @ 4:43 am
Paulinho ain’t good enough for Spurs. We are class and he ain’t. How he got the caps nobody knows but this guy needs to be sold at a loss if necessary. The horrible truth is that despite his obvious cr&pness he is still one of our best options in the middle. Can you believe what has happened to our squad in the last 3 years? Think back to HR and the champions league run… Now list the current squad… we are screwed and we’ve done it to ourselves. Levy and puppet Pochettino OUT!