Fernando Llorente is the reason why the Spurs are in the final of the Champions League

Since his arrival at the Spurs, Mauricio Pochettino expects some versatility from his players. At first, this was due to his style of 4-2-3-1. Central defenders had to master the ball to be able to play from behind and be athletic enough to play a high defensive line. Backbacks had to have enough pace and athleticism to be de facto wingers and cover normal defensive responsibilities for a back. The four attackers had to have unlimited energy, position intelligence and normal attack qualities. The midfielder was to cover the field defensively, dominate possession of the ball and contribute to the attack while making the connection between the defense and the attacking third. All of these roles therefore require players who have broader skills than usual.

In recent years, he has needed this versatility out of necessity: in his third season, the team had to find a system that takes into account the prolonged absence of Mousa Dembele and the limitations of Victor Wanyama. They rose to a 3-5-2, which worked thanks to the flexibility of Eric Dier, Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld, as well as Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen.

Over the last two seasons, this flexibility has been even more demanded, with Harry Kane facing long absences each season and Dembele's powers diminishing before he left the club in January.

That said, the degree of flexibility required of players has often exceeded their actual capabilities, which has forced Pochettino to evolve as a manager, finding ways to better adapt the system to its staff.

Of course, it is extremely difficult to do this well, especially when you depend on fairly limited players, such as the Spurs this season. Finding a system that maximizes the strengths and minimizes the weaknesses of some Tottenham players is a daunting task. And sometimes, Pochettino is seriously wrong.

The half-hour opening of the first leg against Ajax is an example. Tottenham settled in a 3-4-3 system, a low bank and Fernando Llorente at the top. The plan was to sit down deep, absorb the pressure and counteract by Llorente. But it did not work because there was no player chained in the middle of the field and the distance between Llorente and the rest of the team was too great. If Llorente won the ball, nobody is there to make the link. If they played the ball over Llorente's head for him to pursue it, he was not up to par because he is a 34-year-old target man. who has not been able to run since the destruction by Marcelo Bielsa of Athletic. Bilbao It was only after Vertonghen's injury and Moussa Sissoko's introduction that Tottenham began to freeze and assert himself, but Sissoko is the kind of midfielder who can connect the game in the way required.

That being said, when Pochettino makes the necessary adjustments, the results are spectacular. And that brings us to this week's semifinal and how Fernando Llorente is why the Spurs are in the final of the Champions League.

Use these two Michael Caley charts to compare the expected goal cards for the first and second half:

Why was the second half so different? Part, no doubt, is due to the fact that the Spurs continued the game and that Ajax was trying to hold on. But a much larger share of the credit should go to Llorente, who played at half-time for Victor Wanyama.

In the first leg against Ajax, Llorente struggled to distance himself from the distance to Tottenham. But in the second half in Amsterdam, as the Spurs progressed and the Lucas, Dele and Son trio buzzed around him, Llorente became the focal point of Tottenham's attack.

The most obvious place you can see is Lucas' winning goal in stoppage time:

But it was not the only time the great Spaniard had contributed in this way. In fact, according to Squawka, Llorente won 13 of the 17 aerial duels in the second half:

It was huge because it made two huge things for the Spurs.

First of all, as has already been mentioned, Llorente's ability to delay the game provided a platform for Son, Lucas and Dele to influence the game. The three other main Tottenham forwards present on the field during of the second half love to run against the opposition with the ball on the ground and play fast football with the other attackers. But for this style to be as effective as possible, it needs a robber capable of serving as a central point to attack and serve as a hub with which runners play. When Harry Kane is in shape, he does it and so much more. Llorente, unfortunately, is very limited and does not offer much else. But in the second half, that was all the Spurs needed. It was Llorente's overthrow that often put the other attackers at risk.

The other aspect to take into account is the way in which Llorente's presence occupied Ajax's defender, Matthijs de Ligt. The skipper of Ajax, aged 19, is already a world-class defender and one of his greatest strengths is his ability to fly. The touted attack of Tottenham's airstrikes never took place in the first period largely because you can not launch an airstrike against Ligt when your two attackers are Lucas and Son. But with Llorente on the pitch, he could win Ligt's lead and take the Dutch out of the match at the same time.

There is no doubt that it was the best season of Pochettino at the Spurs. It's probably the thinnest group he's ever had. But, and this is perhaps the greatest proof of Pochettino's genius, he was inspired by this limitation to find a way to build his team around the forces of his smallest staff. At the beginning of the season, he made Kieran Trippier the main progression option for the Spurs attack. By mid-season, he had found a system that made Moussa Sissoko the pivot of Tottenham's midfield. And now, in the final days of the season, he has found a way to make Fernando Llorente the central point of a powerful Spurs attack.

Certainly no Spurs fan wants Pochettino has to play at this level. I think we all would have preferred the team to engage a few players last summer and, you know, she had a midfielder this season. But, once again, Pochettino proved to be a master of the work with the resources at his disposal. And while he's already established himself as one of the best managers in the world, he may be about to sit next to Bill Nicholson in Tottenham Hotspur's history. Indeed, according to what will happen on June 1, it may be only a few weeks longer than the great Bill Nick.