Gilzeantoscore
Justin Edinburgh
Yeah, I thought we were far too open right from the very start. We should have been more cagey.
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TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR VS CHELSEA - CAPITAL ONE CUP FINAL
- Thread starter Mumorn
- Start date
Yeah, I thought we were far too open right from the very start. We should have been more cagey.
Jurgen the German
Willie Hall
Stupid moment from Chadli, but can't really have too many complaints. We controlled the game in the first half but didn't create enough in the game and Chelsea scored two deflected goals. Couldn't see us beating a Mourinho side twice in the space of 3 months.
Hope we build from this and use it as motivation like we did in 2010. We need more quality to go along with the likes of Eriksen, Kane, Lloris and Bentaleb. Our squad still needs a lot of work as we need our best 11 out virtually every game and struggle even when one or two big players are rested.
Hope we build from this and use it as motivation like we did in 2010. We need more quality to go along with the likes of Eriksen, Kane, Lloris and Bentaleb. Our squad still needs a lot of work as we need our best 11 out virtually every game and struggle even when one or two big players are rested.
Gilzeantoscore
Justin Edinburgh
Let's fudge of the Europa league. Play our under age players.
Pirate55
The Last Man Standing 17/18
Worst week in our history?
Poor performance against Spam and hugely lucky to draw. Knocked out of two cups and all our rivals for fourth winning.
We have now scored one flukey goal and one penalty in the last three games.
Need to put this behind us quickly and move on.
Poor performance against Spam and hugely lucky to draw. Knocked out of two cups and all our rivals for fourth winning.
We have now scored one flukey goal and one penalty in the last three games.
Need to put this behind us quickly and move on.
That's football hey? Could turn around next week. Let's hope so
King of Norway
Gudni Bergsson
We have no attacking game when teams sit back against us. As soon as they scored, we were always gonna struggle to create chances. Actually, we created nothing from open play all game long, but in the first half we at least looked like we were capable. We needed someone to come up with something special to get us level, like Kane did on New Year's Day, but Chelsea were better prepared this time. They defended very well. I also thought we didn't show enough urgency to get a goal back. It was too controlled. Okay, we might have conceded number three, but in a cup final you just have to go for it.
We defended better than we often do, perhaps helped by the fact that we were more cautious than usual. Our center backs played well, I think. Mason and Dembele did well in the first half too.
The annoying thing is how fortunate their goals were. On the other hand, we gave away too many free kicks in the first half against a team that is very good at set pieces. We paid the price for that.
Let's just hope we can find some good league form now towards the end of the season. Would be a shame if the season just fizzled out.
We defended better than we often do, perhaps helped by the fact that we were more cautious than usual. Our center backs played well, I think. Mason and Dembele did well in the first half too.
The annoying thing is how fortunate their goals were. On the other hand, we gave away too many free kicks in the first half against a team that is very good at set pieces. We paid the price for that.
Let's just hope we can find some good league form now towards the end of the season. Would be a shame if the season just fizzled out.
El Guepardo
Rafael Van Der Vaart
But now it's too late
Robbo
Paul Walsh
To be fair we conceded to fluky goals today as well. Not a very good week though, but the team is young and the manager is fresh. Things are not looking too shabby.
Not totally. We are still in a race for top 4. Nothing else to focus on
El Guepardo
Rafael Van Der Vaart
But we're not..we're to far behind considering the fixtures that the rest of the top 4 have. We won't finish inside the top 6.
Legohamster
Ian Walker
So no excuses.
Starting with Swansea on Wed.
We have an easier run in than Arsenal
Gilzeantoscore
Justin Edinburgh
With games against City and Man United still to be played, I think that ship has sailed, particularly given this weekends results.
I can understand the tactics and you can't argue with the results. Perhaps, the fact that is was such a poor non-event of a game is my biggest disappointment. Even when you lose, you want to remember something from a game, even if the opposition do something great. They have much better players and we were underdogs so I can accept this loss, no problem.
We can beat City at home. It's not beyond us.
United away? Think we have every chance
Let's give it a go at least. Arsenal, Liverpool and United are the most likely candidates. But we are In the equation still
El Guepardo
Rafael Van Der Vaart
Did you see how we played today? We won't even score v Emirates Marketing Project, let alone win! Lol
DubaiSpur
Ian Walker
Sigh. Four important things to take from this game;
1) We are knackered. There is no doubt about it now, and there wasn't much doubt prior to this game. We were knackered, and Poch's vaunted fitness techniques didn't really extend our effectiveness much given the limited size of our 'trusted' squad. By the 60th minute we were on fumes - balls zipping into players' feet bounced off where previously they would have stuck, our pressing up front became more and more anemic and the players ran into blind alleys in exhaustion as Chelsea's fitter players hassled them out of the game. We were out-pressed and outfought today.
2) We lack a great deal of technicality - it's true, what Montella said about us prior to the game at the Artemio Franchi: we aren't very technically skilled as a team. Eriksen is probably the best of a bad bunch (closely followed by Lamela, and then Kane), but it shows when we're trying to operate in tight areas or ping passes with accuracy to the wide men - more often than not we lose the ball, or just send it out of play on those long diagonals, which (noticeably) never happened with Chelsea - their balls over the top were perfectly weighted for the likes of Costa and Willian to run on to, while ours lacked that accuracy. And it showed. Especially in our crossing.
3) Our gameplan was used against us - this is critical - Chelsea matched our 4-2-3-1 with their own, but they allowed us a lot of space in the first half in order to draw us into their half and leave space for break-aways, trusting that our horrible shooting from range (evidenced by Chadli and Mason (twice) blootering it over the bar) would prevent any major damage occurring. Once they got the goal, they used the superior fitness they had to harry us into submission. We played right into this tactic, and were undone by this.
4) Perhaps most important......it wasn't anybody's fault, despite all that up there.
Look, the inquest about this game will presumably be long, and extensive. But sometimes, there isn't much than can be said for games that isn't some variation of 'it wasn't our day'. And in this case, it's very applicable. Despite all those factors above, today just wasn't our day. When you're a team assembled on the dirt cheap, or based off of youthful talent as opposed to mature skill, the way the ball bounces in big games is vital - more seasoned professionals can manage games well, and take occurrences within a game in their stride, but to a youthful, inexperienced team like ours (especially when facing a team as skilled and experienced as Chelsea), that bit of luck is crucial in determining our approach and ability to win these games. And today, the ball just didn't run for us. If Eriksen's free kick shot had deflected off the crossbar and into the net instead of up and away from it, if Costa's shot had missed Walker or deflected away from goal instead of into it, if the referee hadn't fallen for Ivanovic's dive during the one moment in the first half where the defense was wobbling (when Walker went off and then came back again).....it would have been a different story. If Kane hadn't taken that extra moment towards the end when through on goal, if Lamela got a touch on Kane's flick on at that corner, if Chadli had just connected with Kane's cross around the 75th minute....it would have been a different story.
Ultimately, the narrative of this game will be that Chelsea ruthlessly and professionally took apart a young, inexperienced Spurs side. And that's true to a great extent. But it doesn't tell the whole story. And moments like those could have changed everything, and it is to the lads' credit that they managed to fashion those chances in a game like this.
This is a young Spurs side, who will be feeling absolutely gutted at the moment, and will be gutted about this for a long time. But in the cold light of day tomorrow, and in the days after tomorrow, they can take some solace from the fact that this was a game of relatively thin margins, and that the experience they got from this will hopefully stand them in good stead in the future when situations like this arise again. It is up to Poch and Levy (sigh....one lives in hope) to redress the imbalances in the squad that prevent the team from being used to its full potential, to bring in players suited to the system Poch wants, high-quality players that will rise to the occasion during moments like these. But there's no shame on anyone as a result of this defeat, and I hope everyone takes that to heart.
We were beaten by the margins today. Yes, greater fitness would have helped, yes, more technical players would have helped, yes, more tactical tinkering would perhaps have helped. But these are all systemic factors that stem from inadequacies in the side and the club that are not the fault of Poch, or the players: and ultimately, the lads can look at the Spurs crest on their shirt with dignity, knowing that they gave all they could. And that's all we can ask for from them, really.
1) We are knackered. There is no doubt about it now, and there wasn't much doubt prior to this game. We were knackered, and Poch's vaunted fitness techniques didn't really extend our effectiveness much given the limited size of our 'trusted' squad. By the 60th minute we were on fumes - balls zipping into players' feet bounced off where previously they would have stuck, our pressing up front became more and more anemic and the players ran into blind alleys in exhaustion as Chelsea's fitter players hassled them out of the game. We were out-pressed and outfought today.
2) We lack a great deal of technicality - it's true, what Montella said about us prior to the game at the Artemio Franchi: we aren't very technically skilled as a team. Eriksen is probably the best of a bad bunch (closely followed by Lamela, and then Kane), but it shows when we're trying to operate in tight areas or ping passes with accuracy to the wide men - more often than not we lose the ball, or just send it out of play on those long diagonals, which (noticeably) never happened with Chelsea - their balls over the top were perfectly weighted for the likes of Costa and Willian to run on to, while ours lacked that accuracy. And it showed. Especially in our crossing.
3) Our gameplan was used against us - this is critical - Chelsea matched our 4-2-3-1 with their own, but they allowed us a lot of space in the first half in order to draw us into their half and leave space for break-aways, trusting that our horrible shooting from range (evidenced by Chadli and Mason (twice) blootering it over the bar) would prevent any major damage occurring. Once they got the goal, they used the superior fitness they had to harry us into submission. We played right into this tactic, and were undone by this.
4) Perhaps most important......it wasn't anybody's fault, despite all that up there.
Look, the inquest about this game will presumably be long, and extensive. But sometimes, there isn't much than can be said for games that isn't some variation of 'it wasn't our day'. And in this case, it's very applicable. Despite all those factors above, today just wasn't our day. When you're a team assembled on the dirt cheap, or based off of youthful talent as opposed to mature skill, the way the ball bounces in big games is vital - more seasoned professionals can manage games well, and take occurrences within a game in their stride, but to a youthful, inexperienced team like ours (especially when facing a team as skilled and experienced as Chelsea), that bit of luck is crucial in determining our approach and ability to win these games. And today, the ball just didn't run for us. If Eriksen's free kick shot had deflected off the crossbar and into the net instead of up and away from it, if Costa's shot had missed Walker or deflected away from goal instead of into it, if the referee hadn't fallen for Ivanovic's dive during the one moment in the first half where the defense was wobbling (when Walker went off and then came back again).....it would have been a different story. If Kane hadn't taken that extra moment towards the end when through on goal, if Lamela got a touch on Kane's flick on at that corner, if Chadli had just connected with Kane's cross around the 75th minute....it would have been a different story.
Ultimately, the narrative of this game will be that Chelsea ruthlessly and professionally took apart a young, inexperienced Spurs side. And that's true to a great extent. But it doesn't tell the whole story. And moments like those could have changed everything, and it is to the lads' credit that they managed to fashion those chances in a game like this.
This is a young Spurs side, who will be feeling absolutely gutted at the moment, and will be gutted about this for a long time. But in the cold light of day tomorrow, and in the days after tomorrow, they can take some solace from the fact that this was a game of relatively thin margins, and that the experience they got from this will hopefully stand them in good stead in the future when situations like this arise again. It is up to Poch and Levy (sigh....one lives in hope) to redress the imbalances in the squad that prevent the team from being used to its full potential, to bring in players suited to the system Poch wants, high-quality players that will rise to the occasion during moments like these. But there's no shame on anyone as a result of this defeat, and I hope everyone takes that to heart.
We were beaten by the margins today. Yes, greater fitness would have helped, yes, more technical players would have helped, yes, more tactical tinkering would perhaps have helped. But these are all systemic factors that stem from inadequacies in the side and the club that are not the fault of Poch, or the players: and ultimately, the lads can look at the Spurs crest on their shirt with dignity, knowing that they gave all they could. And that's all we can ask for from them, really.
Baleforce
Les Bennett
I wouldn't go that far, I don't think any of the results came as a surprise, 3 very tricky games in the space of a week
we have had far worse periods than this, culmination of the 87 season comes to mind, and relegation
Jurgen the German
Willie Hall
Don't think we'll get anything against Emirates Marketing Project.
More worried about the other games tbh, it would be sexy to beat both Manchester clubs, but lose at home to Leicester and Villa.