Andy Gray

Every week, Betfair Football's star tipster Andy Gray picks out and answers his favourite question out of those he is asked on Twitter and Facebook. Here's his answer to this week's poser...

"Tottenham's recent matches have been high-scoring and Harry Redknapp has said he intends to keep on attacking. Will this backfire eventually when they reach the business end of the Champions League?" - Further to a conversation between @BetfairFootball and @kbotw1690

For starters, Tottenham aren't quite as gung-ho as some make them out to be. Yes, a straightforward 4-4-2 is pretty attacking by today's standards but for much of the season (in the absence of Jermain Defoe) Harry has gone with 4-4-1-1 with Rafael van der Vaart just behind the lone striker. Of course, the Dutchman is very much an attack-minded player but he's certainly not a striker.

The other point is that just because you're playing two proper wingers, the likes of Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon, it doesn't mean you're going all-out attack. Bale in particular tracks back a fair bit to avoid his left back being exposed whereas the likes of Tom Huddlestone and Wilson Palacios (when he plays) do plenty of running and tackling to ensure gaps aren't let when the more attack-minded players roam forward.

At the moment, Spurs are more positive than most, their matches are high-scoring and entertaining and that's obviously good for the game but that's not to say that will be a constant throughout the season. Harry knows better than most that football is a game of 'horses for courses' and there will be occasions when he may bring in an extra midfielder, say Palacios, at the expense of one of his strikers.

We know how much he likes little Defoe but if he feels he's better off going with a target man like Roman Pavlyuchenko or Peter Crouch as his most advanced player for a particular match, he'll have no hesitation in leaving Defoe out if that's what he think is best.

A bigger concern for Spurs fans is simply how few clean sheets they're keeping. More important than systems is simply doing the basics well like defending well from set pieces, not giving away silly free-kicks in dangerous areas and working hard when you're not in possession of the football. One thing is for sure, irrespective of how many goals they're scoring at the other end, they need to start keeping a few clean sheets if they're to have another top-four finish (3.05) or get through another couple of rounds in the Champions League.

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