Ruthless People
Here comes that favourite losing managers old chestnut. Take the positives.
Not one of my favourites I have to say. But sometimes you can, and indeed should. We didn't loose tonight because of poor selections, poor tactics or poor coaching. We lost tonight because we came up against one of the most ruthless managers and teams this league has seen. Mourinho is the ultimate ruthless winner, more than anything else he knows - and teaches - is how to win.
But on a night when even Mourinho admitted that his team could have been behind and 3-0 flattered them we can draw she positives IMO, some nights you just have to put your hands up and say we did our best, did some good things, we weren't out run, we weren't out fought, we weren't out played, we were just outclassed. Their individuals made less unforced mistakes, and were more ruthless in their play.
Tactically this was a decent overall performance, unfortunately punctuated by a few individual errors, ruthlessly punished, and in a few first half minutes the game landscape changed drastically. Chelsea are the last team you want to be 2 goals down to. Mourinho has them drilled to within an inch of their lives on what to do in just such a circumstance. They wind their collective necks into their impregnable turtle shell, and from there on in, like a poker player sitting on the biggest pile of chips, take no risks, only playing the best hands dealt, feeding off weaknesses of those that have to gamble.
The first goal was piss poor work from Lennon. He gets spun too easily, but worse he can still track Hazard, he lets him run off him and then moves too late.
The second was one those occasional Lloris clusterfucks. A poor clear out, no idea who to, but Chelsea ruthlessly punished it, and after a very bright first 20 minutes we found ourselves very harshly 2-0 down and against this bunch, that means virtually game over. But our heads didn't go down.
The 62% possession figure of course flattering us as second half Chelsea had parked their luxury uber bus, but I've seen many, much worse performances after going behind at Chelsea than this one. We gave it our best shot, dominated the ball, tried to manoeuvre it round that impregnable fort of the Mourinho defensive turtle, but to no avail. Their were moments when a piece of finesse or luck might have changed the narrative, but the crucial moment of inspiration couldn't reward the long spell of perspiration and then came the very cruel final, fatal wound. Vertonghen should have done better.
I think it would have been cleverer to switch to a proper 433, but the swap of Lamela in for Soldado wasn't a bad compromise. Lamela worked hard, dropped in and saw lots of ball, generally doing some good things, but as ever, there were a couple of times he hold on to the ball and lost it when a simple lay off would have worked better.
The defenders generally had a decent game. The midfielders were once again pretty well positionally disciplined and dynamic, and our work without the ball was good and approach play was often crisp. But not always, and while many of our players were guilty of the odd piece of carelessness, Mason really had quite a poor night with the ball and against a ruthless opponent like Chelsea, every misplaced pass takes on a more dangerous resonance.
Kane, if anything, was even better tonight than Sunday. Showed some really good touches in tight situations. Player of the night for me though was Bentaleb. 78/87 passes (90%), he just doesn't bottle it. He keeps showing, keeps playing, he has great technique, has a mental toughness, doesn't get flustered under pressure, this kid is a fucking gem. I said this a week or two ago in the U21 thread, but I'm going to repeat it. I think he's the best thing to come out of our academy since Ledley King.
For me, there were good things to take out of that game. Most of all that many of the good traits from Sunday were evident. The landscape changed completely with the second goal, I appreciate that, but we still showed character, tried to play football, and didn't just bend over.
Individual stuff (with passing stats just for the hell of it):
Lloris - Bad night at the office unfortunately.
Chiriches - one stupid mistake in the corner, but otherwise a pretty good game.
Fazio - Very decent game I thought.
Vertonghen - a decent game generally, but was a bit weak for the third goal.
Davies - Pretty solid.
Mason - Good without the ball - which is important - not a good night with the ball. This has been a little bit of a theme and he needs to improve it. He gives the ball away a lot more than every single one of our other midfielders (and attacking midfielders, including Lamela) and it's not like he's being super creative or incisive and that's the excuse. Nights like tonight when you are under pressure you have to take more care and make the right decisions. Hope he keeps his place though, because I like the duality of him and Bentaleb, they make for a genuine double pivot. 32/43 74%
Bentaleb - Very good game. 78/87 90%
Lennon - First goal is down to him. One time we got him on the ball into the box he makes a poor decision, turns back andy the moment is pissed away. The rest of the game he was OK without the ball and inconsequential when we had it. Normal service resumed. 18/21 86%
Lamela - I very decent game in terms of working for the team, showing and seeing plenty of the ball. A couple of those decision moments but actually otherwise played well and nearly created something for Chadli. 48/52 92%
Eriksen - An OK game, not terrible, not brilliant. 41/49 84%
Kane - Bloody good game. Showed better composure with the ball at his feet than he does sometimes. Worked his nuts off. Was unlucky with the header but really should have passed the ball back on the second one where he went through on the left.
Subs - In hindsight, all made sense.
Interesting that Lamela saw more of the ball than any of our front 6 bar Nabil and also gave it away the least.
They didnt watch the game and made their assumptions watching the VERY limited highlights.I honestly can't believe what I've just heard them say on MOTD....about how Spurs fans should be very worried. What the actual fuck are they on about.
Yes individual mistakes gifted Chelsea the points but sometimes you can't legislate for that, we still had some very good moments in the game and we were playing a superior team, in a fixture we've always struggled in, who will probably win the league at a canter,
I watched the whole game last night and yes Lamela was involved which is good. problem is his involvment isnt where you want it to be. he is there to supply our forward line with chances to score or score himself. This is what i think frustrates me and others. He has a Bale shaped millstone around his neck which is no help to him. But on the flip side he just doesnt seem to do the right thing with the ball. I hope this will come with coaching and experience. He always looks like he is 75% in control of the ball.Interesting that Lamela saw more of the ball than any of our front 6 bar Nabil and also gave it away the least.
You mean other than setting up our best chance?
If people are going to scrutinise him for their goal- for which he was at fault but Hazard has bamboozled better defenders than Lennon- he deserves credit in equal measure for some good that he did.