Tottenham Hotspur have two of the biggest games of their season on the horizon.
Indeed, Tottenham are set to face Bodo/Glimt in the Europa League semi-finals, and, simply put, Spurs’ season hinges on this tie.
Ange Postecoglou has made it clear how important the Europa League is.
If Spurs win, they’re in the Champions League next season, if Spurs lose, they won’t have any European football next year.
Bodo/Glimt, on paper, looks like a plum tie for Spurs in a European semi-final. After all, the Norwegian league isn’t necessarily the best in Europe.
However, Bodo/Glimt shouldn’t be underestimated. They’ve made it this far for a reason, and they’ve bloodied a few noses over the years, particularly at home.
Much like Oldham Athletic in the early 1990s, Bodo/Glimt have an ace card in terms of their home form as they play on an artificial pitch, something that most teams aren’t accustomed to.
Spurs have played on an artificial pitch before this season as they faced Tamworth away from home in the FA Cup, but according to Dan Kilpatrick, speaking on The Tottenham Way Podcast, Spurs’ players really didn’t like the artificial pitch.
Tottenham were warned about Tamworth’s pitch ahead of that game, and it did cause a few problems.
How Tottenham’s players felt after playing on plastic pitch
According to Kilpatrick, the Spurs squad were exhausted after the Tamworth game as they were feeling the effects of playing on that pitch for days and days after this match.
“So, you know, they’ve got opportunities to prepare. And in that sense, they’ve obviously had the Tamworth game that you mentioned. I imagine the Bodo/Glimt pitch is significantly better than Tamworth’s was” Kilpatrick said.
“A lot of the Spurs players were feeling that game for days and days afterwards. So you kind of hope that’s not the case next week.”
What’s so different about an artificial pitch?
Tottenham will be playing on a different surface in the Europa League next week, and, that is a disadvantage for Spurs.
Of course, football is football no matter what surface you play on, but, different surfaces do have different effects, much like in tennis where you have clay or grass specialists.
Speaking on the Tottenham Way Podcast Bodo/Glimt expert Terje Flateby shared the big difference between this pitch and other surfaces.
“Yeah, let’s take the pitch first. It’s a first-class artificial pitch. So it’s not a bad pitch in that way,” Flateby said.
“But the ball goes really, really fast, especially when it rains and it’s wet. They, of course, water the pitch before it starts. But the ball, if you speak to professional players in Norway who plays a lot on artificial pitches and also on grass, it’s almost a different game.
“So it’s very difficult to set the press because the ball goes so much faster at the artificial pitch. And the Bodo/Glimt, they are a great team, but they’re also a reason why they’re so good at home. It’s also because of the pitch.
“So that will be a big challenge for Spurs and how to attack this game. But if they go gung-ho pressing, Bodo/Glimt will, of course, just carve them open,”
As anyone who’s watched Tottenham under Ange Postecoglou will tell you, Spurs like to press high, so this could be a big issue for Spurs.
Carlton Cole reckons Tottenham should play their youngsters vs Bodo/Glimt, theorising that these younger players will be better on a plastic pitch due to their speed and athleticism.
Ange Postecoglou hasn’t been the best tactically this season, but he’ll have to come up with something of a masterplan if he’s to win away against Bodo/Glimt.
