Ratings vs Chelsea

[guiltyparty]

That's not what I said though. It was tactically very poor, and did cost us, but not the entire game.

No one mistake costs you an entire game. It had a huge impact, as you mentioned, as well as other factors. Notably several decisions by Poch.

"We were 2-2 when Son was subbed, blaming the defeat on playing him at LWB is ridiculous, particularly as we were dominating the game... Whining about blame makes some of you lot sound like spoilt tarts."

Sorry I don't see how those views match yours at all, considering you've blamed Poch at length and made a major point of Son's positioning, so I don't understand why you're bang on and others are wrong in his eyes.

Strikes me as a bit creepy actually.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

One of the most accurate appraisals I've ever seen you post BC.

Yeah, it's up there with my 35 or so best from this season for sure

I'd be interested in your appraisal of the ref, who I thought was very poor when it came to decisions in or around their box.

Overall, I've got no major grumbles. I think he annoyed me a couple of times with decisions during the game, but on reflection I reckon he was pretty even handed, he could have sent Lloris off for handling outside the box, could have pulled Chelsea players up a couple of times for fouls and Luiz should have got booked for leaving studs on someone, but our players got away with a couple of misdemeanours too, and some of the time players like Alli don't help themselves buy not controlling the ball and then going to ground a lot.

He's not my favourite ref, but I haven't got too many major complaints today.

 

[alamo]

Yeah, it's up there with my 35 or so best fro this season for sure

Lol, you twat

 

[gp13tot]

First 10 were nervy, last 10 some had thrown the towel in, but I thought we played some great stuff today, unlucky to lose in some respects but you can't defend like that and expect much else. So proud of the players after a hugely difficult 48 hours.

Lloris 1. Worst I've seen him. Utterly hesitant, no communication or leadership at all from the captain. Transmitted uncertainty to the defence. Has plenty of credit in the bank, of course, but he was simply abysmal today
Trips 6
Son 5
Toby 5. Another poor game against this lot. He was all over the show in the game at the bridge 12 months ago
Dier 5
Jan 7
Vic 7
Dembele 7. Absolute beast but still too slow in possession sometimes and got caught on the ball a lot
Dele 8. My MOM, thought he really took the game to Chelsea
Eriksen 8. In great form atm, what a ball for Dele's goal
Kane 7. Great header, worked hard

Walker 5. Killed attacking moves too often
GKN 6. Decent little cameo, needs some more chances in the coming weeks

 

[dudu]

MISFORTUNE FAVOURS THE STUPID

OK, last week was all about the power of Poch, and whatever we are now, we are because of him. But as with the good, that is also true of the bad. Today Poch has to take a fair chunk of responsibility for us losing that game. I walked in on the game a minute and half into it, not knowing the teams etc, and the first thing that hit me like tactical stun grenade was seeing Son at LWB. It was tactically poor in various ways. The first, obviously being that Son is not a defender, is not used to the dynamics and disciplines of that role, and maybe against a bus Parker at WHL Poch might have gotten away with it, maybe, in a game like this, against a team like Chelsea, it was very naive to assume it would not cause us problems. The second most obvious problem is that in trying so desperately to squeeze all our best attacking players onto the pitch from the start, it left us with a very weak bench, with no-one capable of really impacting the game in an offensive way from the bench should we need it. It also meant that should the tactical gamble go wrong, it could only really be rectified by taking one of the attacking players out of the game for good, or taking someone out of a pivotal role or changing to a shape which might not have been tactically as effective against the 343 of Chelsea. It was a pretty schoolboy mistake, and it cost us at least one goal. It wasn't Poch's last mistake, IMO, but will get to them later.

Chelsea came out lively and caught us on the hop a little. The first goal was clusterfuck that started with Dier being caught a bit flat footed, forgetting that he's not a CM, getting spun too easily, followed by Alderweireld possibly unnecessarily giving away a free kick and then to complete the trifecta, Lloris makes a bit of a pigs ear of the free kick. That 5th minute goal was the only time Chelsea scored a goal that wasn't completely against the run of play.

We then proceeded to take the game by the bollocks, and having deservedly got ourselves back it with a great ball from Eriksen, flicked in adroitly by Kane, and with the game seemingly completely under our control, Poch's tactical faux pas came back to bit us on the arse big style with Son making a horribly mistimed slow motion slide tackle from about 20 yards away from Moses who, like any player in his position, RSVP'd Son's invitation "yes please". Willian dispatched the penalty.

Once again, we picked ourselves up, dusted ourselves down and went about dominating the football. Our second equaliser was as good a goal as you will see. Eriksen, picking the ball up just infield on the right, seems to see the into future, and plays a ball that defied belief, whipping a low pass through the air that simultaneously curled away from the reach of Luiz but arced into the run of Alli, who for his own part had done what he does best, which is read Eriksen's brain and share that glimpse of the future, making the move and finishing deftly but emphatically. It was a sublime piece of football that deserved to win a game, not be a footnote.

We continued to dominate, but then Poch decided to make another one of his "curious" subs. For me, by this stage, we were so on top, and still trying to win the game, the defensive left side issue was a horse that had bolted long ago, and was less of an issue. Maybe bringing Walker on was a reactive measure to the introduction of Hazard, but I don't really get that either, Walker in recent years has proven just as likely to be mesmerised by Hazards twinkle toes as Trippier might be, I'd have happily let Trippier stay there and with 3CB's hope we could cope. There was no real issue down the left any more as we were so dominate and Chelsea so unambitious, but if that was Poch's motive, just bring Davies on. If that sub was designed to quell Hazard, it failed miserably as Walker - or whoever else should have - left Hazard all on his own from one of Chelsea's few corners. I'm really disappointed that someone like Alderweireld didn't organise us better at that corner - and this has to be something Poch looks at in the future, we can't be leaving a row of Chelsea players on the edge of the box from a corner, someone has to be barking orders and making sure bases are covered. From there Hazard gets the breaks that we didn't get throughout this game. Where Chelsea had blocked all day, we didn't, Hazard's shot goes through the legs of Alli, Dier seems to choose to let it go buy him and Lloris sees it too late.

And then Poch influences the fourth goal with another substitution. Matic scores from a big Wanyama shaped hole where Wanyama had previously been. Eriksen was the best player on that pitch today, but Poch's sub had the immediate, devastating effect of replacing a teak peg with a piece of balsa wood, and where Wanyama would have put his nuts in front of train if it would benefit his team, Eriksen just didn't quite offer up the same resistance. Football can be a cruel mistress, and that a player like Matic, who never scores, doesn't even have the ambition to want to score, hits a shot like that was football at it's very cruelest. It was a jagged dagger through the heart of what had been a fine performance.

It was a performance that, just prior to their third goal, had me thinking to myself, damn, we are a fucking good team now.

Dembele did get caught dawdling on the ball a couple of times, there were a couple of occasions when I wanted him to move the ball quicker, but apart from that he and Wanyama were like tooled up gladiators slapping weedy christians armed with feather dusters around the coliseum. Matic and Kante were like a pair of turtles in windsock. They just couldn't live with our two Brutus's. It's Dembele, Wanyama and Eriksen I feel most sorry for. These three were absolutely outstanding today.

We cannot ignore Poch's influence on this performance or result. It was because of him that we outplayed, by some distance, this Chelsea side. But it was also partly because of him that we didn't get the right result. He made a very fundamental selection error from the start. Then, in a state of superiority he made changes that at best were moot, at worst, made us less superior.

What annoys me is that, for all our own self inflicted pain, this Chelsea side still didn't deserve to win this game, they didn't play it cute, soak us up, stop us playing, disturb our rhythm, nullify us or prevent us getting into dangerous areas and then cleverly hit us repeatedly on the break in a threatening way. They did that a coupe of times in the first 5 minutes, but from then on it was just moments of fortune really. Son gives away stupid penalty. Hazard fires one hopefully from the edge of the box that whizzes through a crown and finds it's way in. Matic cracks a howitzer from 30 yards off the crossbar. None of their goals, really involved any football, or clever tactical planning. This wasn't a tactical masterclass, such as the League cup final under Mourinho, this was a couple of mistakes by Poch, a couple of individual moments of brilliance not so much fortune favouring the brave, as misfortune punishing the stupid.

Individual

Lloris - Lucky not to get penalised for handling outside the box, was partially at fault for the first. After that I guess he didn't have much chance with the goals but didn't do anything great either.

Trippier - Was growing more and more involved and then got switched to the left.

Dier - Got caught napping for the first, and seems to make a decision to get out of the way of Hazard's shot. Also gave the ball away with a careless pas in the build up to the third goal I think. Apart from that he was OK.

Alderweireld - Decent enough but I think he didn't have to give away the free kick for the first.

Vertonghen - Good game for the most part

Son - Horrible first half, and whilst his challenge for the penalty was really poor, you really can't blame him too much as he just shouldn't be playing as a LWB. Was contributing second half and by then I would have eft him on.

Wanyama/Dembele - These two were outstanding today, bullied their midfield completely out of the game. And we mention Dembele's passing efficiency a lot, well Wanyama made 60 passes at 93.3% today (Dembele 53 @92.5).

Eriksen - This little fella is our maestro. That pass for the second goal is ensconced in my memory forever, a thing of utter beauty. Apart form that he was, as ever, our creative metronome, more touches than anyone on the pitch, constantly at the hub of everything good we do, and even winning aerial duels and shit. MOTM.

Alli - This was one of those slightly frustrating games. There was the obligatory moment of productive brilliance, and a fleeting few other moments of quality, but there were too many occasions where a bit more composure were needed, where he needed to stay on his feet and get the ball under control instead of flipping it away or allowing Chelsea players to fluster him or bundle him off it.

Kane - Worked hard, great finish for the goal.

Any professional footballer should know not to go to ground that quickly with the ball in the pen area.

I don't blame him for the loss but to say it's not his fault is making out like he doesn't understand the basics of football.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

Any professional footballer should know not to go to ground that quickly with the ball in the pen area.

I don't blame him for the loss but to say it's not his fault is making out like he doesn't understand the basics of football.

Where did I say the penalty wasn't his fault ? I'm pretty sure I said the opposite? I said the whole defeat wasn't down to Son playing LWB, and it wasn't.

 

[dudu]

Such a shame. At 2-2 I said to my father in law that we won't be able to get back into the game again if we go behind again.

Hard to take considering we were do dominant for such long periods of the game but I am still proud of the team and think that we have a great future ahead of us.

The next 6 games will show if we have grown and are able to pick ourselves back up and finish strong.

I think we have and we will.

 

[dudu]

Where did I say the penalty wasn't his fault ? I'm pretty sure I said the opposite? I said the whole defeat wasn't down to Son playing LWB, and it wasn't.

In your rating of him you said.... "you really can't blame him too much as as shouldn't be playing LWB"

 

[Bus-Conductor]

In your rating of him you said.... "you really can't blame him too much as as shouldn't be playing LWB"

That full sentence reads:

"Horrible first half, and whilst his challenge for the penalty was really poor, you really can't blame him too much as he just shouldn't be playing as a LWB."

Poch's tactical faux pas came back to bit us on the arse big style with Son making a horribly mistimed slow motion slide tackle from about 20 yards away from Moses who, like any player in his position, RSVP'd Son's invitation "yes please".

So to recap, I'm saying penalty was his fault, stupid challenge, but you can't blame him for being in that position, that's Pochettino's fault.

 

[dudu]

That full sentence reads:

"Horrible first half, and whilst his challenge for the penalty was really poor, you really can't blame him too much as he just shouldn't be playing as a LWB."

Poch's tactical faux pas came back to bit us on the arse big style with Son making a horribly mistimed slow motion slide tackle from about 20 yards away from Moses who, like any player in his position, RSVP'd Son's invitation "yes please".

So to recap, I'm saying penalty was his fault, stupid challenge, but you can't blame him for being in that position, that's Pochettino's fault.

Ah ok. That makes a little more sense

 

[journeyman]

Can anyone make a compilation of the last 20 pens we've faced? I'd swear Lloris has dived the wrong way for at least 18 of 'em, if not all!

 

[dannythomas]

Agree. The problem is, a 4 back line with Dier at CB is going to fail against the team like Chelsea. I can see why Poch prefers 3CB

Why does Dier have to play in a back 4 ? Walker, Toby, Verts, Davies. I fail to see why Dier is an automatic starter. He is great cover at CD, RB, DM but his main role is to compete with Wanyama for the DM spot. The goal they scored from their only corner started when Dier needlessly gave them the ball when we were putting them under pressure.

 

[dannythomas]

I actually think it was pochs decision to tripp at right back that changed it.

Should have put davies on for son as their two goals came from attacks down our left.

Thght lloris was poor for the freekick too. How ofter is he beaten like that and he was no where near the ball.

No. Davies should have come on for Dier and Son restored to his natural position where he has been scoring for fun.

 

[Atarrier]

Kane's last minute free kick symbolised Tottenham for me, powered through with sheer determination then creeping under the last hurdle, looks like it will cross the line before back spinning away from the goal and it's all over...

 

[mpickard2087]

Probably going to be a random stream of consciousness...

What I take away from the game is disappointment. We've been bigged up, we've bigged ourselves up, yet after much talking the talk we once again haven't taken that step and truly walked the walk. I don't think we showed our best, yes there will be nerves, yes the club has had a tough few days, but when it came to the match we didn't show our best in attack, certainly didn't in defence, and weren't at our most energetic either. That's a shame.

A game that we have to learn from. This wasn't Chelsea winning, more us contriving to hand to them. We gave them a sniff, and at the very top they take it.

Lets start with selection. Bit of a surprise wasn't it. Now a few weeks back I suggested exactly this line-up, with Son playing a left sided role in a lopsided setup. I'm all for tactical variation, boldness, and not being afraid to try things out, but I'm puzzled as to why you wouldn't try this against a Watford or Bournemouth and instead today of all days. Maybe Davies' really wasn't fit to play, maybe he was just shoe-horning in all his favourites and form players, who knows..... Ultimately though Son was put in one pressure situation defensively in the game, and it went badly for us.

I thought we started the game very slowly. For the first 15 mins in fact I thought at 1-0 down we were clinging on as they had a few other really good opportunities and could maybe have had a penalty. We were getting bested all over the pitch. Suddenly though we were level with Kane's smart header and the game settled down after that and for most of the rest of the match we had the ball and played on the front foot, and you couldn't really fault our guys for huff and puff... But here's the thing, I don't count that as domination, it was to be expected. We want the ball, Chelsea are happy to soak it up and then counter attack with brutal efficiency. It's what's taken them to the top of the league this season. They aren't the worlds greatest football team, but they are well organised and by far the most efficient at their work.

Today they were brutally efficient once again, but for the most part it was feeding from the little errors we gave them and ruined the solid foundations to the game we had laid. I thought all four goals were preventable:

Goal 1 - Ball turned over needlessly (think Kane was ultra sluggish and coughed it up) and then one forward ball is easily won in first phase, then second, and suddenly Pedro is in behind our square, flatfooted defence. I think Toby's tackle at this point was ultra cynical and a borderline red given he was running in on goal.... Then the frekikc is stuck away making Hugo look a bit daft. Oh dear.

Goal 2 - Son's only defensive test all game, and under pressure he does something reckless. Definite penalty for me.

Goal 3 - This reminded me of a goal England conceded at the last World Cup. At the time of that goal my viewpoint got criticised, well brace yourselves coz it was the same for this one.. That was an utterly unacceptable goal for a professional football team to concede. Any player, let alone the star player, left alone edge of the box. It's just lack of organisation and common sense and being alert. It's schoolboy stuff FFS.

Even Goal 4 - Yes the actual strike is a worldly that deserved to win any game, but let's look at what happens before it... Hazard has three men around him, none stop the pass, Fabregas has ran untracked, he then gives a return to Hazard who none of the three Spurs players has bothered to go with and just let him run. There are two or three really soft bits of play before the shot at goal.

This is the best defence in the league, yet today on the biggest of occasions they've gone and shipped four and made some uncharacteristic errors. I think it got to them a bit.

Some of you might think I'm being harsh. However this is the reality of football and sport at the very top and often the difference between winning and losing. For all our 'domination' Chelsea were solid and didn't really give us a sniff bar the two goals (one improvised, one a stupendous pass cutting them open) and committed less errors ultimately. You've got to minimise even the smallest of errors and stay switched on all game and not let the occasion get to you. The best teams take the smallest of openings.

Didn't really get the subs, we were on the front foot and it wasn't like Son was having to track up and down the flank being worked to exhaustion. We then got Nkoudou also on the left, and he did what he erratically does. With Chelsea's defence so keen for a wrestle, I was a bit surprised Janssen didn't come on. He might have occupied defenders and allowed others to find space or play off him.

Speaking of the wrestle, thought the ref was quite poor. We got the benefit of the doubt early on with a couple of decisions, but on the whole I thought he allowed them to get away with a lot of niggle and numerous times where they were only interested in playing the man and not the ball. I don't blame Chelsea for these disrupting tactics if they're getting away with it, it's up to the ref to not put up with them.

We've got to learn. There's no point feeling sorry for ourselves, we have to keep improving in all aspects and developing our game - whether that be physically, mentally, technically or tactically. The next big test is immediately upon us, pick ourselves up and finish this season strongly and see where that ultimately takes us.


Lloris - Should do better with the freekick. Got away with a handball. Was he the model of leadership out there? I'll leave others to decide...

Dier - Some forced/sloppy passing at times, but was ok.

Alderweireld - Slow start and looked shaky, but was ok after that.

Vertonghen - Ditto.

Trippier - Bit meh.

Wanyama - Took some time to get going, but a fairly solid game.

Dembele - Solid. I thought he and Wanyama eventually shaded the midfield battle.

Son - Couldn't really impact the game going forward, failed his one defensive test.

Eriksen - Was our brightest light out there. The pass for the second goal was simply wonderful.

Alli - Good finish, tried but not his most involved game as space was at a premium.

Kane - Smart header, but, and I accept it's difficult when you have defenders kicking you for 90 mins, I thought he could have offered a bit more overall. Lacked a bit of zip.

Subs:
Walker - It didn't really work.

Nkoudou - Standard Nkoudou game. Came on, very keen, hint of threat but ultimately very little of coherence and quality.

 

[dannythomas]

MISFORTUNE FAVOURS THE STUPID

OK, last week was all about the power of Poch, and whatever we are now, we are because of him. But as with the good, that is also true of the bad. Today Poch has to take a fair chunk of responsibility for us losing that game. I walked in on the game a minute and half into it, not knowing the teams etc, and the first thing that hit me like tactical stun grenade was seeing Son at LWB. It was tactically poor in various ways. The first, obviously being that Son is not a defender, is not used to the dynamics and disciplines of that role, and maybe against a bus Parker at WHL Poch might have gotten away with it, maybe, in a game like this, against a team like Chelsea, it was very naive to assume it would not cause us problems. The second most obvious problem is that in trying so desperately to squeeze all our best attacking players onto the pitch from the start, it left us with a very weak bench, with no-one capable of really impacting the game in an offensive way from the bench should we need it. It also meant that should the tactical gamble go wrong, it could only really be rectified by taking one of the attacking players out of the game for good, or taking someone out of a pivotal role or changing to a shape which might not have been tactically as effective against the 343 of Chelsea. It was a pretty schoolboy mistake, and it cost us at least one goal. It wasn't Poch's last mistake, IMO, but will get to them later.

Chelsea came out lively and caught us on the hop a little. The first goal was clusterfuck that started with Dier being caught a bit flat footed, forgetting that he's not a CM, getting spun too easily, followed by Alderweireld possibly unnecessarily giving away a free kick and then to complete the trifecta, Lloris makes a bit of a pigs ear of the free kick. That 5th minute goal was the only time Chelsea scored a goal that wasn't completely against the run of play.

We then proceeded to take the game by the bollocks, and having deservedly got ourselves back it with a great ball from Eriksen, flicked in adroitly by Kane, and with the game seemingly completely under our control, Poch's tactical faux pas came back to bit us on the arse big style with Son making a horribly mistimed slow motion slide tackle from about 20 yards away from Moses who, like any player in his position, RSVP'd Son's invitation "yes please". Willian dispatched the penalty.

Once again, we picked ourselves up, dusted ourselves down and went about dominating the football. Our second equaliser was as good a goal as you will see. Eriksen, picking the ball up just infield on the right, seems to see the into future, and plays a ball that defied belief, whipping a low pass through the air that simultaneously curled away from the reach of Luiz but arced into the run of Alli, who for his own part had done what he does best, which is read Eriksen's brain and share that glimpse of the future, making the move and finishing deftly but emphatically. It was a sublime piece of football that deserved to win a game, not be a footnote.

We continued to dominate, but then Poch decided to make another one of his "curious" subs. For me, by this stage, we were so on top, and still trying to win the game, the defensive left side issue was a horse that had bolted long ago, and was less of an issue. Maybe bringing Walker on was a reactive measure to the introduction of Hazard, but I don't really get that either, Walker in recent years has proven just as likely to be mesmerised by Hazards twinkle toes as Trippier might be, I'd have happily let Trippier stay there and with 3CB's hope we could cope. There was no real issue down the left any more as we were so dominate and Chelsea so unambitious, but if that was Poch's motive, just bring Davies on. If that sub was designed to quell Hazard, it failed miserably as Walker - or whoever else should have - left Hazard all on his own from one of Chelsea's few corners. I'm really disappointed that someone like Alderweireld didn't organise us better at that corner - and this has to be something Poch looks at in the future, we can't be leaving a row of Chelsea players on the edge of the box from a corner, someone has to be barking orders and making sure bases are covered. From there Hazard gets the breaks that we didn't get throughout this game. Where Chelsea had blocked all day, we didn't, Hazard's shot goes through the legs of Alli, Dier seems to choose to let it go buy him and Lloris sees it too late.

And then Poch influences the fourth goal with another substitution. Matic scores from a big Wanyama shaped hole where Wanyama had previously been. Eriksen was the best player on that pitch today, but Poch's sub had the immediate, devastating effect of replacing a teak peg with a piece of balsa wood, and where Wanyama would have put his nuts in front of train if it would benefit his team, Eriksen just didn't quite offer up the same resistance. Football can be a cruel mistress, and that a player like Matic, who never scores, doesn't even have the ambition to want to score, hits a shot like that was football at it's very cruelest. It was a jagged dagger through the heart of what had been a fine performance.

It was a performance that, just prior to their third goal, had me thinking to myself, damn, we are a fucking good team now.

Dembele did get caught dawdling on the ball a couple of times, there were a couple of occasions when I wanted him to move the ball quicker, but apart from that he and Wanyama were like tooled up gladiators slapping weedy christians armed with feather dusters around the coliseum. Matic and Kante were like a pair of turtles in windsock. They just couldn't live with our two Brutus's. It's Dembele, Wanyama and Eriksen I feel most sorry for. These three were absolutely outstanding today.

We cannot ignore Poch's influence on this performance or result. It was because of him that we outplayed, by some distance, this Chelsea side. But it was also partly because of him that we didn't get the right result. He made a very fundamental selection error from the start. Then, in a state of superiority he made changes that at best were moot, at worst, made us less superior.

What annoys me is that, for all our own self inflicted pain, this Chelsea side still didn't deserve to win this game, they didn't play it cute, soak us up, stop us playing, disturb our rhythm, nullify us or prevent us getting into dangerous areas and then cleverly hit us repeatedly on the break in a threatening way. They did that a coupe of times in the first 5 minutes, but from then on it was just moments of fortune really. Son gives away stupid penalty. Hazard fires one hopefully from the edge of the box that whizzes through a crown and finds it's way in. Matic cracks a howitzer from 30 yards off the crossbar. None of their goals, really involved any football, or clever tactical planning. This wasn't a tactical masterclass, such as the League cup final under Mourinho, this was a couple of mistakes by Poch, a couple of individual moments of brilliance not so much fortune favouring the brave, as misfortune punishing the stupid.

Individual

Lloris - Lucky not to get penalised for handling outside the box, was partially at fault for the first. After that I guess he didn't have much chance with the goals but didn't do anything great either.

Trippier - Was growing more and more involved and then got switched to the left.

Dier - Got caught napping for the first, and seems to make a decision to get out of the way of Hazard's shot. Also gave the ball away with a careless pas in the build up to the third goal I think. Apart from that he was OK.

Alderweireld - Decent enough but I think he didn't have to give away the free kick for the first.

Vertonghen - Good game for the most part

Son - Horrible first half, and whilst his challenge for the penalty was really poor, you really can't blame him too much as he just shouldn't be playing as a LWB. Was contributing second half and by then I would have eft him on.

Wanyama/Dembele - These two were outstanding today, bullied their midfield completely out of the game. And we mention Dembele's passing efficiency a lot, well Wanyama made 60 passes at 93.3% today (Dembele 53 @92.5).

Eriksen - This little fella is our maestro. That pass for the second goal is ensconced in my memory forever, a thing of utter beauty. Apart form that he was, as ever, our creative metronome, more touches than anyone on the pitch, constantly at the hub of everything good we do, and even winning aerial duels and shit. MOTM.

Alli - This was one of those slightly frustrating games. There was the obligatory moment of productive brilliance, and a fleeting few other moments of quality, but there were too many occasions where a bit more composure were needed, where he needed to stay on his feet and get the ball under control instead of flipping it away or allowing Chelsea players to fluster him or bundle him off it.

Kane - Worked hard, great finish for the goal.

Great post, spot on about everything. However, do you not think that with Wanyama and Dembele so dominating that the dimple solution would have been to yank off Dier for Davies and restore Son to his attacking position ? . I wanted that substitution to be made in the match thread after 10 minutes. In fact that was how we should have started. But we didn't get that at all.

 

[Ionman34]

How do you agree with that and then call people out for saying the same thing? Did you miss the bit where BC says Son at LWB effectively cost us the game? That bit you said was bullshit when others said it? So so "accurate"

You mean the bit where he said he was contributing second half and he'd have left him on? Because I don't see a single sentence claiming that Son cost us the game.

Let's face it, your ability to read a post pretty much sums up your ability to read a game, you see what you want then spout bollox.

I'd say nice try but I'd be lying.

 

[Ionman34]

No one mistake costs you an entire game. It had a huge impact, as you mentioned, as well as other factors. Notably several decisions by Poch.

"We were 2-2 when Son was subbed, blaming the defeat on playing him at LWB is ridiculous, particularly as we were dominating the game... Whining about blame makes some of you lot sound like spoilt tarts."

Sorry I don't see how those views match yours at all, considering you've blamed Poch at length and made a major point of Son's positioning, so I don't understand why you're bang on and others are wrong in his eyes.

Strikes me as a bit creepy actually.

The difference is that there was reasoning behind BC's post. An analysis of what went wrong rather than a whine and a hunt for a scapegoat.

The fact that you've missed this distinction comes as no surprise, you're not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

Great post, spot on about everything. However, do you not think that with Wanyama and Dembele so dominating that the dimple solution would have been to yank off Dier for Davies and restore Son to his attacking position ? . I wanted that substitution to be made in the match thread after 10 minutes. In fact that was how we should have started. But we didn't get that at all.

And go 4231 ?

I think we may have struggled in other aspects with Chelsea's 343 with that, but it could have worked. Personally I'd have just started Davies and had Son on the bench for this one. Would have made us far more structurally sound and given us at least one good attacking option off the bench.

 

[Flashspur]

Momentum is way too fricken overrated