Chelsea Vs Tottenham: Match Thread

[danielneeds]

People need to stop playing the blame game here, we were ground down by one of the most powerful sides in Europe. The way Chelsea are playing at the moment they would be a match for anyone, they squeeze the life out of opposing teams, and apart from Defoe's one clear chance in the first half they didn't let us play.

Howard Webb's usual bumbling going against us was a bitter pill to swallow, but I still think they would have beaten us had it gone to 1-1.

We failed the tests of United and Chelsea, but realistically we are still pretty much where we wanted to be before the start of the season, beating teams we have more ability than. There is still more to come from this squad, but without Modric and Woodgate, two players who are good enough to play for anyone in the league, we look a bit short in the spine of our side when trying to challenge to big boys.

 

[Luka Lennon]

can someone please tell me why Lennon is trying to mark Ballack on a cross, in them still frames when Charlie had Ballack covered and Lennon should have been covering Coles late run into the box?

 

[Luka Lennon]

People need to stop playing the blame game here, we were ground down by one of the most powerful sides in Europe. The way Chelsea are playing at the moment they would be a match for anyone, they squeeze the life out of opposing teams, and apart from Defoe's one clear chance in the first half they didn't let us play.

Howard Webb's usual bumbling going against us was a bitter pill to swallow, but I still think they would have beaten us had it gone to 1-1.

We failed the tests of United and Chelsea, but realistically we are still pretty much where we wanted to be before the start of the season, beating teams we have more ability than. There is still more to come from this squad, but without Modric and Woodgate, two players who are good enough to play for anyone in the league, we look a bit short in the spine of our side when trying to challenge to big boys.

hard to say if Carvalho had also got a red because he was the last man

 

[Ledders Army]

I think it's time we played the blame game. Yet again against one of the so called big 4 we've had a blatantly biased performance from the ref. We didn't have to just play chelsea today we had to play Webb too. Something needs to be done about it. The Gomes 'foul' on Carrick last season most people said if at the other end he wouldn't have given it and today (when it was actually a foul) we've seen that proved. There's a reason technology isn't brought into football and that's because the big 4 are perfectly happy with how many wrong decisions are constantly being made.

 

[chrissivad]

Corluka messed up but I think that was the third or fourth similiar cross played in from the left

Palacios was being asked to cover that channel and as a CM he naturally drifted in leaving their RM lots os space to make the cross

Should play people in their positions

totaly agree, i dont like the formation we played as it exposes our fullbacks.

BAE stood off them and gave them space to cross too often as well.

 

[worcestersauce]

Where we lost it today was down our left, they were loading that side with two or three players and getting crosses in every time and we didn’t adjust to prevent it, can anyone remember Ashley Cole getting forward and crossing from the left during the entire first half? No because he didn’t, that said we dealt with most of them ok and to be honest the best pass of the game was Palacios through to Defoe who really should have buried that chance, in fact we were contesting it well until Ledley went off.
From then on we had two players in new positions and the balance shifted, just too many players out sadly, and following the pen decision we were always chasing, at 1-1 it’s a different game against ten men.
If we are honest we got a draw last year and we were so far second best it was a steal but today we were better and in the long run that is more important, we are beyond the point where getting a result against Chelsea and Arsenal is the high point of our season..

I won’t comment on the penalty deniers they are just anti Keane and so irrelevant, absolutely no doubt about it. Shit! I suppose that means I did comment.

Six games in having played last years top three and we are joint third

 

[phil]

Where we lost it today was down our left, they were loading that side with two or three players and getting crosses in every time and we didn’t adjust to prevent it, can anyone remember Ashley Cole getting forward and crossing from the left during the entire first half? No because he didn’t, that said we dealt with most of them ok and to be honest the best pass of the game was Palacios through to Defoe who really should have buried that chance, in fact we were contesting it well until Ledley went off.
From then on we had two players in new positions and the balance shifted, just too many players out sadly, and following the pen decision we were always chasing, at 1-1 it’s a different game against ten men.
If we are honest we got a draw last year and we were so far second best it was a steal but today we were better and in the long run that is more important, we are beyond the point where getting a result against Chelsea and Arsenal is the high point of our season..

I won’t comment on the penalty deniers they are just anti Keane and so irrelevant, absolutely no doubt about it. Shit! I suppose that means I did comment.

Six games in having played last years top three and we are joint third

I was as close to the incident (about 10 yards) as Webb but I didn't see any contact between Carvalho and Keane. I'll be interested to see a replay but on the evidence of my own eyes, at the time, I would not have given a penalty.

I agree with your comments about being exposed on the left. Bosingwa was free to come forward and BAE had no support against him and Anelka. The problem was evident long before the first goal.

 

[don1]

anyone know why pav wasnt on the bench

 

[Luka Lennon]

I was as close to the incident (about 10 yards) as Webb but I didn't see any contact between Carvalho and Keane. I'll be interested to see a replay but on the evidence of my own eyes, at the time, I would not have given a penalty.

I agree with your comments about being exposed on the left. Bosingwa was free to come forward and BAE had no support against him and Anelka. The problem was evident long before the first goal.

I was unsure if there was contact at first too and the intial replay wasn't very good but they showed one replay that was from behind the goal pretty much right infront of Keano and you can clearly see Carvalho clip him and Keanos loses his balance

Agree about Bosingwa too it was evident long before the goal. We just refused to close him down and in the end it cost us big time. Wilson should've went over and gave him a good kick early on to make him think twice about driving forward all the bloody time

 

[worcestersauce]

I was as close to the incident (about 10 yards) as Webb but I didn't see any contact between Carvalho and Keane. I'll be interested to see a replay but on the evidence of my own eyes, at the time, I would not have given a penalty.

I agree with your comments about being exposed on the left. Bosingwa was free to come forward and BAE had no support against him and Anelka. The problem was evident long before the first goal.

I think you'll agree when you see the replay phil but that shows how close these calls are I suppose.
To be honest that point was for the people who have seen it and refuse to accept it for other reasons.

 

[BringBack_leGin]

I am well and truly zonked. Traffic in West London makes Golders Green high street seem as clear as the red sea when Moses is in town.

First of all, I am delighted to have 12 points from 6 games. I predicted 14, but 12 wil do, especially when we've gotten last seasons top 3 out of the way. We're going good and I'm hopefuly for 8 from the next 4 games at least, so I think come the 10th match, when the league position actually begins to mean something, we'll be sitting pretty.

Having said that, I question a couple of things today. Why was Keane played ahead of Crouch? Crouch came on and we instantly improved, and that was when we were already 3-0 down and playing poorly. Why did we decide that the way to play Chelsea was to try and match up man for man? Essien v Palacios... I like Wilson but seriously, no. Lampard v Jenas... not even a contest. Ballack v Huddlestone... can I get a mismatch over here? Our threesome actually did ok, and quite well in two spells (one in each half) but overall they are just not as good and it did show.

The result, out one outlet is Lennon, and when he gets stopped we have nothing else. I know Modric got injured, but why have we changed our system as a result? We won 4 games with a system that stretched the opposition and had us playing good, confident, flowing football. Modric, a key ingredient admittedly, gets injured, and we decide to go back to the drawing board? The result, two defeats. Kranjcar, Giovani, even Bentley (with him going left and Lennon switching right). I hope that we go back to a good old 442 next week, because defeats to the two best teams in England is one thing, but if we screw up against Burnley I may just get the noose ready, and not necessarily for my neck.

Having said that, we weren't awful today. However, we were up against Howard Webb so the result was a bit predictable. The midfield 3 we ok, Lennon had a decent first half, Defoe looked sharp though should have scored really and our goalkeeper didn't scare me as much as he has done. Bassong was fine with King next to him, King was fine till he got hurt. Hopefully one is fit next week, along with hopefully Woodgate.

Some horrible performances in there though, something you can not even afford one of against Chelsea. Our fullbacks were awful. I love them both, but we conceded so many crosses from Ekotto's side that it became inevitable one would lead to a goal, while Corluka was murdered by Cole and Malouda, and was nowhere near Cole for the goal. I find this inexcusable, because Corluka can deal with pacey opponents, but he needs to pull his finger out. Hutton, when he came on, wasn't much better. He actually impressed me going forward (if only Crouch had been on earlier for those crosses) but defensively he just worries me so much. I couldn't quite see from where I was, but I believe it was he who whored out the majority of our area to Drogba in the build up to Chelsea's second.

Kranjcar and Crouch I was pleased with, and I pray that both start next week.

The penalty incident. Where do I start. First of all, I hate Howard Webb. Second of all, I really really really do not like him, and like to think that if there is a hell, he is destined for eternal damnation. I was sat very low down (where you can hear the tackles crunch) and was in line with the 6 yard line (had Spurs fans about spitting distance to my left and they were the only ones doing any singing so at least I didn't feel completely dirtied by being in the Chelsea stand). Keane got into the area, decided (for some reason only he knows) not to pass to one of our options. Fair enough, have a shot at least. He chose not to, still not sure why. Anyway, without doubt he was taken out with no contact being made with the ball, and if ever there was proof that Howard Webb deserves bad things to happen to his nads, this is it.

Painful day, got a few dodgy looks from fat rich middle eastern/ american/ french Chelsea fans sat around me, most of whom were about 60 and had hired teenage russian skanks to be on their arms for the day, when I jumped up to celebrate Crouches goal (boy did I look stupid) but by that point I cared little what they thought, I could tell that they were unlikely to break my neck and the girl with me was not bought and far better looking than theirs.

It was never a 3-0er, I think the ref raped us again, I hope the defenders are ok and we still have 2 points per game from the first 6. It's going to be a good year, this was just a blip.

COYS

 

[markiespurs]

I am well and truly zonked. Traffic in West London makes Golders Green high street seem as clear as the red sea when Moses is in town.

First of all, I am delighted to have 12 points from 6 games. I predicted 14, but 12 wil do, especially when we've gotten last seasons top 3 out of the way. We're going good and I'm hopefuly for 8 from the next 4 games at least, so I think come the 10th match, when the league position actually begins to mean something, we'll be sitting pretty.

Having said that, I question a couple of things today. Why was Keane played ahead of Crouch? Crouch came on and we instantly improved, and that was when we were already 3-0 down and playing poorly. Why did we decide that the way to play Chelsea was to try and match up man for man? Essien v Palacios... I like Wilson but seriously, no. Lampard v Jenas... not even a contest. Ballack v Huddlestone... can I get a mismatch over here? Our threesome actually did ok, and quite well in two spells (one in each half) but overall they are just not as good and it did show.

The result, out one outlet is Lennon, and when he gets stopped we have nothing else. I know Modric got injured, but why have we changed our system as a result? We won 4 games with a system that stretched the opposition and had us playing good, confident, flowing football. Modric, a key ingredient admittedly, gets injured, and we decide to go back to the drawing board? The result, two defeats. Kranjcar, Giovani, even Bentley (with him going left and Lennon switching right). I hope that we go back to a good old 442 next week, because defeats to the two best teams in England is one thing, but if we screw up against Burnley I may just get the noose ready, and not necessarily for my neck.

Having said that, we weren't awful today. However, we were up against Howard Webb so the result was a bit predictable. The midfield 3 we ok, Lennon had a decent first half, Defoe looked sharp though should have scored really and our goalkeeper didn't scare me as much as he has done. Bassong was fine with King next to him, King was fine till he got hurt. Hopefully one is fit next week, along with hopefully Woodgate.

Some horrible performances in there though, something you can not even afford one of against Chelsea. Our fullbacks were awful. I love them both, but we conceded so many crosses from Ekotto's side that it became inevitable one would lead to a goal, while Corluka was murdered by Cole and Malouda, and was nowhere near Cole for the goal. I find this inexcusable, because Corluka can deal with pacey opponents, but he needs to pull his finger out. Hutton, when he came on, wasn't much better. He actually impressed me going forward (if only Crouch had been on earlier for those crosses) but defensively he just worries me so much. I couldn't quite see from where I was, but I believe it was he who whored out the majority of our area to Drogba in the build up to Chelsea's second.

Kranjcar and Crouch I was pleased with, and I pray that both start next week.

The penalty incident. Where do I start. First of all, I hate Howard Webb. Second of all, I really really really do not like him, and like to think that if there is a hell, he is destined for eternal damnation. I was sat very low down (where you can hear the tackles crunch) and was in line with the 6 yard line (had Spurs fans about spitting distance to my left and they were the only ones doing any singing so at least I didn't feel completely dirtied by being in the Chelsea stand). Keane got into the area, decided (for some reason only he knows) not to pass to one of our options. Fair enough, have a shot at least. He chose not to, still not sure why. Anyway, without doubt he was taken out with no contact being made with the ball, and if ever there was proof that Howard Webb deserves bad things to happen to his nads, this is it.

Painful day, got a few dodgy looks from fat rich middle eastern/ american/ french Chelsea fans sat around me, most of whom were about 60 and had hired teenage russian skanks to be on their arms for the day, when I jumped up to celebrate Crouches goal (boy did I look stupid) but by that point I cared little what they thought, I could tell that they were unlikely to break my neck and the girl with me was not bought and far better looking than theirs.

It was never a 3-0er, I think the ref raped us again, I hope the defenders are ok and we still have 2 points per game from the first 6. It's going to be a good year, this was just a blip.

COYS

:clap:agree totally, repped:clap:

 

[Bill_Oddie]

This thread is highlighting why Andy Gray gets paid big bucks to be a pundit and you let, well, don't.

Forget the blame game for the opener. Ashley Cole had no right being in that spot. Ancelotti's full backs are in outrageous positions. Look. He's the furthest forward player in a blue shirt. And he's the left back.

In fact, it would have been almost negligent to have put a man on him. It would have committed resources in an area that was already light due to the two men at the near post (who King and the Bass were responsible for).

Charlie took a good position and was beaten by a super cross. Upset though I am, respect should be paid to Bosingwa especially but all the Chelsea team for playing their roles so well.

You only have to follow the logical argument about what would have happened if Charlie OR Lennon had decided to stick to Cashley. The simple answer is that Bosingwa would almost certainly have delivered an equally great cross for Ballack or Lampard or another player and created another good goalscoring chance.

Face it. Chelsea are and were bloody good and we have many mitigating factors. I'd rather we lost this one when the odds are stacked against us, so we can get better for matches that are in the balance.

 

[joey.leone]

Chelsea broke their transfer ban it seems, with the signing of Howard Webb. He did well for them Id say.

 

[Kendall]

I don't care.

We got thumped 3-0 by Chelsea and I haven't got an ounce of care in my body about it. Very strange.

 

[Spurs_Bear]

If anyone wants a laugh check out the "Front Page News" section of the Community, f*ck me there are some what you would call 'knee-jerk' reactions on there.

Having had a day to digest what happened I am sure that some people have already decided what their player ratings etc are before the game is even played.

One thing that really grates on me is the whole "'Arry's tactics were shit....". I don't really get it, we had 3 chances to score in the first 20 mins, 2 of them difficult but Defoe should have done a lot better, on another day we would have been 2 or 3 up and I wonder if those same people would have been hailing it a master stroke from Harry.

I think not is the answer. I was hoping we would get a glimpse of maybe Gio or Naughton, and I think if we hadn't have had the 2 injuries then we may well have done, but it seems like that was H's fault as well.

Yes we lost, and we were outplayed for some parts of the game, but we gave Chelsea problems, and let's face it they are champions elect, they are not going to lose too many games this season. Having said that Drogba only really caused problems when Leds had to go off which goes to show they were not getting much joy.

My old flat mate who has also been one of my best mates for 20 years, has been a Chelsea season ticket holder for 10 years, said it wasn't a 3-0 game, and that until they got the second the crowd in the Matthew Harding stand were feeling a bit tense.

We have lost 2 games against the 2 best teams in the league, for me that isn't the end of the world and I'm sure some agree.

2 games this week, and even though we will probably have Gio and Bentley at CB against Preston, I'm still looking forward to it!

 

[Spurs_Bear]

I am well and truly zonked. Traffic in West London makes Golders Green high street seem as clear as the red sea when Moses is in town.

First of all, I am delighted to have 12 points from 6 games. I predicted 14, but 12 wil do, especially when we've gotten last seasons top 3 out of the way. We're going good and I'm hopefuly for 8 from the next 4 games at least, so I think come the 10th match, when the league position actually begins to mean something, we'll be sitting pretty.

Having said that, I question a couple of things today. Why was Keane played ahead of Crouch? Crouch came on and we instantly improved, and that was when we were already 3-0 down and playing poorly. Why did we decide that the way to play Chelsea was to try and match up man for man? Essien v Palacios... I like Wilson but seriously, no. Lampard v Jenas... not even a contest. Ballack v Huddlestone... can I get a mismatch over here? Our threesome actually did ok, and quite well in two spells (one in each half) but overall they are just not as good and it did show.

The result, out one outlet is Lennon, and when he gets stopped we have nothing else. I know Modric got injured, but why have we changed our system as a result? We won 4 games with a system that stretched the opposition and had us playing good, confident, flowing football. Modric, a key ingredient admittedly, gets injured, and we decide to go back to the drawing board? The result, two defeats. Kranjcar, Giovani, even Bentley (with him going left and Lennon switching right). I hope that we go back to a good old 442 next week, because defeats to the two best teams in England is one thing, but if we screw up against Burnley I may just get the noose ready, and not necessarily for my neck.

Having said that, we weren't awful today. However, we were up against Howard Webb so the result was a bit predictable. The midfield 3 we ok, Lennon had a decent first half, Defoe looked sharp though should have scored really and our goalkeeper didn't scare me as much as he has done. Bassong was fine with King next to him, King was fine till he got hurt. Hopefully one is fit next week, along with hopefully Woodgate.

Some horrible performances in there though, something you can not even afford one of against Chelsea. Our fullbacks were awful. I love them both, but we conceded so many crosses from Ekotto's side that it became inevitable one would lead to a goal, while Corluka was murdered by Cole and Malouda, and was nowhere near Cole for the goal. I find this inexcusable, because Corluka can deal with pacey opponents, but he needs to pull his finger out. Hutton, when he came on, wasn't much better. He actually impressed me going forward (if only Crouch had been on earlier for those crosses) but defensively he just worries me so much. I couldn't quite see from where I was, but I believe it was he who whored out the majority of our area to Drogba in the build up to Chelsea's second.

Kranjcar and Crouch I was pleased with, and I pray that both start next week.

The penalty incident. Where do I start. First of all, I hate Howard Webb. Second of all, I really really really do not like him, and like to think that if there is a hell, he is destined for eternal damnation. I was sat very low down (where you can hear the tackles crunch) and was in line with the 6 yard line (had Spurs fans about spitting distance to my left and they were the only ones doing any singing so at least I didn't feel completely dirtied by being in the Chelsea stand). Keane got into the area, decided (for some reason only he knows) not to pass to one of our options. Fair enough, have a shot at least. He chose not to, still not sure why. Anyway, without doubt he was taken out with no contact being made with the ball, and if ever there was proof that Howard Webb deserves bad things to happen to his nads, this is it.

Painful day, got a few dodgy looks from fat rich middle eastern/ american/ french Chelsea fans sat around me, most of whom were about 60 and had hired teenage russian skanks to be on their arms for the day, when I jumped up to celebrate Crouches goal (boy did I look stupid) but by that point I cared little what they thought, I could tell that they were unlikely to break my neck and the girl with me was not bought and far better looking than theirs.

It was never a 3-0er, I think the ref raped us again, I hope the defenders are ok and we still have 2 points per game from the first 6. It's going to be a good year, this was just a blip.

COYS

At last, someone watched the same game as me.

 

[worcestersauce]

I don't care.

We got thumped 3-0 by Chelsea and I haven't got an ounce of care in my body about it. Very strange.

I know what you mean Kendall I think its because we've grown up and as I posted earlier there is more to our season now than a result against chelsea and arsenal.

 

[InOffMeLeftShin]

Yesterday's game showed us how far we still have to go, but I don't think it was all bad. In the first half we showed some great passing and I got a text from a Chelsea fan saying it was by far the best football they had seen at Stamford Bridge this season, including from a Chelsea side. That doesn't really help things, but the passing and movement early was decent and maybe we were guilty of trying to score the perfect goal at times (and if Huddlestone's shot had been another metre to the sde of Cech we might have done it).

We definitely have quality and I am sure we will go on another good run and have a fantastic season. Maybe we were just a little naive. A few things stood out on the negative side which may just be things that will naturally improve as our squad gets used to competing against the best teams:

1. We don't seem to win needless fouls. We give them away a lot. Maybe it is because Chelsea have midfielders and strikers who can hold the ball in high positions, but they can get the ball and draw a foul. When we win the foul it is due to someone being hacked down to stop the play (i.e. a calculated foul in a necessary position) but we seem to not be able to draw fouls around the area when we are not threatening. Chelsea seem to be able to do it better than most (but all the top teams do it well). While I'm not saying we should go looking for fouls or start diving about, it is that kind of play that helps to reduce the pressure and keep it on the opposition.

2. Blocking crosses. Are we the worst in the league at stopping the ball coming into the box? We probably aren't and it may just be me noticing it more because it is us, but we seem to be very bad at stopping the threat at the source. People can blame Corluka all they like for the first goal, but when the cross comes into and across the 6 yard box, it is much easier for someone attacking it then defending it. Cole was ridiculously far up the pitch and the angle of the cross made him favourite even though he was behind Corluka. It is difficult against Chelsea because the fullbacks are so good and get so high up the pitch when crossing, but we have to do a better job stopping it getting into the box. BAE has been great this season, but this is still his major weakness (again I'm probably a little harsh).

3. Giving the ball away cheaply in our own half. At the beginning of the game we were excellent with the passing. The biggest difference after the goal was we tried to hard to do something too much and ended up giving it away cheaply. This was happening in our own half and so we invited pressure back on.

 

[phil]

This thread is highlighting why Andy Gray gets paid big bucks to be a pundit and you let, well, don't.

Forget the blame game for the opener. Ashley Cole had no right being in that spot. Ancelotti's full backs are in outrageous positions. Look. He's the furthest forward player in a blue shirt. And he's the left back.

In fact, it would have been almost negligent to have put a man on him. It would have committed resources in an area that was already light due to the two men at the near post (who King and the Bass were responsible for).

Charlie took a good position and was beaten by a super cross. Upset though I am, respect should be paid to Bosingwa especially but all the Chelsea team for playing their roles so well.

You only have to follow the logical argument about what would have happened if Charlie OR Lennon had decided to stick to Cashley. The simple answer is that Bosingwa would almost certainly have delivered an equally great cross for Ballack or Lampard or another player and created another good goalscoring chance.

Face it. Chelsea are and were bloody good and we have many mitigating factors. I'd rather we lost this one when the odds are stacked against us, so we can get better for matches that are in the balance.

Spot on Bill. No way was Corluka at fault for not covering Cole. It was a beautifully worked goal that was brilliantly finished by Cole. The problem was us not having somebody playing LM. BAE constantly had to cover two players and Bosingwa was causing havoc long before the goal. A number of us in the crowd were commenting on the problem. If anyone was at fault for the goal, it was Harry. If us idiots in the crowd could see the problem, why couldn't he?