Match Ratings Ratings vs Chelsea

[yankspurs]

Lloris - 7
Trippier - 6
Sanchez - 8
Vertonghen - 8
Davies - 6
Dier - 8
Dembele - 8
Lamela - 9
Eriksen - 9
Dele - 10
Son - 7

Dele gets a 10 from me because he was awesome and I love him. Lamela was brilliant. What a player. Give that man a new contract. Proper spurs. That man was at war today?

Trippier and Davies were meh. They were having loads of trouble dealing with Chelsea down the flanks, particularly Davies. Poch moving Son out wide at half was a game changing decision. I criticize him alot for being slow to change things but he got that tactical switch spot on. Needed help out wide quickly and Son was that guy. Huge credit to Poch.

Sanchez was BRILLIANT today. He’s been meh recently but he was fantastic today and up there for MOM. Jan was his usual brilliant self.

 

[whitelanefever]

10’s all round. What a fucking result and win!!

Lloris 10 - because we won 3-1 at the bridge for the first time in 28 years!! Get in!

Trippier 10 - because we won 3-1 at the bridge for the first time in 28 years!! Get in!

Jan 10 - better than Toby anyway

Sanchez 10 - just keeps turning up in huge games, so impressive.

Davies 10 - actually not his best game but 10 because we won 3-1 at the bridge for the first time in 28 years!! Get in!

Dier 10 - that pass

Dembele 10 - for being Dembele

Eriksen 10 - worldy after worldy after worldy

Dele 10 - stop it, wow those goals the effort that celebration

Lamela 10 - his off the ball work is soooo key and he got a nice stamp in on cesc!

Son 10 - would’ve been fuming if he’d not passed to dele and then Lamela and we’d not scored, luckily we did. 10 because we won 3-1 at the bridge for the first time in 28 years!! Get in!

Poch - tactics at half time won the 2nd half and for once brilliant substitutions, couldn’t have been a more perfect player than Kane to bring on in that situation.

COYSSS FUCKING GET IN. Forget trophies that feels like we won the league. #worththewait. But Hopefully not another 28 years until the next one there

What I like about Sanchez is he will stay big & put his bodyou on the line & stand up.. positionally though he's bad..watch a game & just watch him he gets dragged into positions he shouldn't instead of dropping off..he relies on pace to get hen out of poor positioning. .he's stI'll young & plenty of time to learn..own opinion we bought wrong defender from Ajayi. . De Ligt covered Sanchez poor positioning last year..shocked our scouts couldn't see that ^ Chelsea targeted hIm & Trippier to no suprisre

 

[Gaz_Gammon]

Dele

By a County mile.

Eriksen may have leveled it, but Dele blew them away. Kudos to the pass to Son from Eriksen but for a twenty one year old under so much pressure Dele was a cool as the coolest fucking cucumber today.

Play of the game, was Dele's desire and effort to keep the ball in play leading to Eriksen's goal. An effort that proves that this kid deserves all the praise we can give him.

A true gem.

 

[WexfordTownSpur]

If Lloris stays on his line (like he should've) I still don't think he gets near the header, it was too good. Agree that Sanchez couldn't do much, maybe some blame can be put on Davies for not closing the cross down better but it was really just a great cross and header.

I guess the question is if Lloris doesn’t come ( and did he shout?) then Sanchez needs to beat the attacking player to the ball, he is favorite to get it? So for me two players are at fault, if Lloris calls he is, if he doesn’t Sanchez should win the header as he is in front of the attacking player!
BUT either way who gives a fuck, we scored 3 that was the only goal they scored and it was really from our mistake. So they are shit we beat the hell out of them.

 

[glospur]

To anyone that doesn't see what Dier does..how many 1on1 did a atackers get against our cb..positionally Dier is best deeplyinget midfielder in europe.. 2nd half fullbacks pushed on, he was sweeping up & keeping us recycling the ball.. if you are a ball watcher you will never appreciate what Dier offers to the team..he done his job e majestically today
.my mom because without him we coulent of pushed up the field..

Absolutely this.

Fucking mad that anyone thought he was poor. He was so good defensively in the middle of the park and used the ball well throughout. Wanyama is a good 'hunter' in that position, harrying the opposition, but Dier's defensive midfield positioning is sensational and far better than Wanyama's. You can see how high his 'football IQ' is with the positions he takes up and how he knows where to be. It's not the type of thing that shows up on stat sheets or through a cursory watch of the game, but the good judges, including Mauricio Pochettino obviously, get it.

He was much better than Dembele in this one.

 

[Armstrong_11]

Dier OK, didn't get to much help from Dembele who I thought was our "worst" player today - didn't click for him at all.

It's always the players who work the hardest that doesn't get the recognition they deserve.

Did u see much of Willian and Harzard in the match? Where they able to have the space to create and get shots on goal? Both players didn't magically disappear. Dier and Dembele locked them up and kept them quiet for huge portions of the game.

Yes u don't see the work they do on TV. U won't get highlights of them sticking close to the creative players forcing Chelsea to look for the wingers to bring the ball forward.

The plan was always go neutralise both Willian and hazard. Their best chances came from wide areas. But that's the risk we took. I hate to say it... we were playing for a draw. The plan was always defensive. And in the 2nd half bring on Kane and see if we can get a goal.

 

[Flashspur]

Absolutely this.

Fucking mad that anyone thought he was poor. He was so good defensively in the middle of the park and used the ball well throughout. Wanyama is a good 'hunter' in that position, harrying the opposition, but Dier's defensive midfield positioning is sensational and far better than Wanyama's. You can see how high his 'football IQ' is with the positions he takes up and how he knows where to be. It's not the type of thing that shows up on stat sheets or through a cursory watch of the game, but the good judges, including Mauricio Pochettino obviously, get it.

He was much better than Dembele in this one.

Cough...BC says no

 

[HailKingLevy]

Trippier by no means everybody's cup o tea, I think needs a mention for his calmness and in game management, he is such a cool customer. I dont quite know what it is, but he has something. I have seen it a few times this season, i just dont know what it is im alluding to tho, can anbody help me out?

 

[tiger666]

They Got Alli'd, and I'm not sure they Understand.

It was pretty clear that the first half we were tactically out done by Conte, it wasn't that our intentions were bad, or that we were drastically outplayed, we'd had plenty of ball, but Chelsea controlled and channelled us where they wanted us to go, squeezed us and waited for us to cough up the ball and then countered to good effect. The game got congested, our forward's started bumbling into each other, Son was having one of those games where he couldn't control the ball, Alli was fucking around when a more sure foot was needed, Lamela was Lamela and even Eriksen, played in strange role first half, was struggling to conduct.

Throw in that Dier and Dembele were both very poor first half, lethargic and careless with the ball, both getting hassled into playing sloppy passes or passes to people already under pressure, and worse, both making poor decisions without the ball, such as Dier diving in and selling himself a couple of times, allowing Chelsea to maraud forward straight onto outnumbered defenders. They were neither dictating tempo for us, nor preventing Chelsea cutting us open on the counter.

Poch going 4231 (almost 244) against Chelsea's (3421) shape and tactical application, funnelling our AM's centrally, left our fb's exposed and frequently had their WB's always available in acres of space on the counter with Hazard and Willian often free to double up too. In all honesty, we were probably a bit lucky to come in even as Chelsea had several great situations on the counter first half and often last ditch defending saved the day.

I'm really not sure why Poch didn't go with the proper 433 he used in the last game, a format designed to fuck with the 3CB system, which may have also provided our wide areas with more cover on the counter and also dragged Chelsea forwards 10-15 yards, giving our forward players more spaces to work in.

I've not got too many quibbles with Lloris for the goal. I think he has to go for it,* and if he doesn't Morata's header goes in the corner anyway, and I don't think Sanchez could do any more either, it was just endemic of what had been happening, Moses found in acres of space, Davies isolated was a bit slow to close him down maybe, but it's just a cross put into the zone that arrows it's way to their guy.

*Ha, as I type this I am watching MOTD2 and Lloris coming out actually puts Sanchez off, he clearly moves his head I think in reaction to Lloris.*

In the reverse of last year, we then got that crucial goal just before half the, and what a strike. Eriksen had already had a range finder and this time hit an Exocet that just did the keeper all ends up.

After half time Poch switched Lamela and Son, and pulled Eriksen central and got him dropping a little deeper. I honestly don't think we were drastically better second half, and I really don't think the tactical switch of Lamela and Son really helped us loads - but I'll happily listen to those who can explain how and why they think it did - I think getting Eriksen more central and a little deeper helped somewhat, but what made the most difference was two bits of football, that turned the game and it's dynamics on it's head. It would have made more sense to me to swap Son and Alli, have Alli as the focal point, with Lamela and Son as ARM and ALM respectively, still energetically helping to win the ball and protect the FB's, but also cutting in from their favourite sides etc. whilst allowing Erisken that central birth. Other options I mooted at HT were going back to that pure 433, or dropping Dier into a back three and going with a 3cb system.



Dier played one of those raking passes he tries most games, this time getting it spot on, but what converted that great pass into something more was the excellent run and composure then shown by Alli, who on one beautifully poetic movement controlled and deftly dinked past their keeper. It was an absolutely sublime bit of play by Alli. This was followed four minutes later by his second. Eriksen plays a clever little pass round the corner on the right that puts Son clean through, unfortunately Son's bumbling was continuing, and if we can forgive him for not squaring for Alli initially, not knocking it back for Lamela to tap into to an open net was unforgivable, a sin not lost Eriksen who was still admonishing Son for his stupidity after we'd scored. Luckily we got that bit of fortune that the footballing gods had been allocating Chelsea in this fixture for much of the last 20 year, Son's bumbling rolled for us, Alli was on the spot, and again, in contrast to much of the first half, he was cool and composed, deftly dragging and then finishing.

This completely changed the dynamics of what had been a reasonably scrappy tussle. Chelsea now had to abandon any tactical pragmatism, push for goals, and to be honest, they did have some very decent situations, but it just wasn't their day, a combination of excellent defending and their poor execution saw us home.

As ever, Poch's subs baffled me completely and didn't really positively effect the dynamics. Surely at 3-1 up Wanyama could have been introduced much sooner, not Kane chugging around. And I could understand Dier going off at any time in the first hour, but on 80 minutes when we were shelling it ? Strange.

We've played better at their place quite a few times and come away with less, so I'll take it all day long, but this wasn't a slick performance, we were tactically poor for patches of it. Two quick goals second half effectively turned this game on it's head, and if anything I'd chalk this one up to this teams bottle, character more than tactical excellence or collective cohesion. Oh, and Deli Alli.


Lloris - Sorry but he fucked it again. Some good saves before and after.

Trippier/Davies - Tactically I think both were left very exposed at various times in this game and this was not a great game for either of them.

Sanchez - A very good game. There was one moment first half where Hazard was played through and his pace was crucial, no way Alderweireld stays with Hazard in that situation.

Vertonghen - Very good game.

Dier - The great ball for Alli aside, not a great game. Very poor first half, pressed into poor decisions, poor with the ball and without, unable to inject any tempo or play incisively and unable to prevent Chelsea steaming forward and ripping us apart on the counter, selling himself (and his defence) . Second half improved a little but we spent the last 25 minutes of it shelling, which should be his forte, but was eventually dragged off.

Dembele - Much the same as Dier really, and I can't remember a game where Dembele gave the ball away so many times so cheaply. Even toward the end of the game there was a sloppy pass that was so unnecessary that put us under pressure, for all my grumbles about him, that's not one that I usually have. Slow and too risk averse, a bit flat footed without the ball in a fast game sometimes, but never careless. He was generally better in the second half but games like today from him and Dier, really emphasise why we have to start planning for the future and get some more talent in the midfield area.

Lamela - Pretty Lamela like performance, he scrapped for everything, played some Ok football in patches, struggled first half like everyone as Chelsea suffocated the game. Had better games.

Eriksen - Two cracking contributions for goal's one and three, like many others, he's had more involved days, and wasn't helped by Poch's strange tactical application first Half which had him on the left. Still probably ended up our most influential player on the day and pushing for a motm.

Alli - I'm giving him my MOTM today. Overall, probably not as influential on the game as a whole as Eriksen, but he did work hard (even hunting down the ball for the first gaol) and he showed that game intelligence to keep getting into those great positions and his control and finish for that first goal was a sublime piece of skill that turned this game.

Son - This was a real bumbler of a day. Really had to tap it back to Lamela for that third goal, stupidly greedy.

Usual biased Dier comments from you. He had a good game.

 

[Big Jeff]

What I like about Sanchez is he will stay big & put his bodyou on the line & stand up.. positionally though he's bad..watch a game & just watch him he gets dragged into positions he shouldn't instead of dropping off..he relies on pace to get hen out of poor positioning he's stIll young & plenty of time to learn..own opinion we bought wrong defender from Ajayi. . De Ligt covered Sanchez poor positioning last year..shocked our scouts couldn't see that ^ Chelsea targeted hIm & Trippier to no suprisre

This is the key. He's still only 21 (I believe) and he's learning fast, from playing and training alongside Vertonghen who has been absolutely brilliant all season.

.

 

[mpickard2087]

It's always the players who work the hardest that doesn't get the recognition they deserve.

Did u see much of Willian and Harzard in the match? Where they able to have the space to create and get shots on goal? Both players didn't magically disappear. Dier and Dembele locked them up and kept them quiet for huge portions of the game.

Yes u don't see the work they do on TV. U won't get highlights of them sticking close to the creative players forcing Chelsea to look for the wingers to bring the ball forward.

The plan was always go neutralise both Willian and hazard. Their best chances came from wide areas. But that's the risk we took. I hate to say it... we were playing for a draw. The plan was always defensive. And in the 2nd half bring on Kane and see if we can get a goal.

Don't agree with this from a tactical perspective, first half in particular Willian and Hazard were frequently causing us a problem. Nothing spectacular but getting on the ball or taking up positions in pockets of space in the half spaces, leaving our fullbacks a dilemma, and then releasing their wingbacks on the overlap. That had to be part of the remit for our central midfielders, to help out and deny space.

Look at the opening goal for instance. Both Dier and Dembele are in a bit of no mans land. Not pressing but not shutting the space in front of the back four..... Willian sees this space between the lines, makes his run inside into it, Davies follows, it releases Moses... A goal, whatever the circumstances, then comes from it.

And that wasn't the only time, Chelsea worked quick combinations and cut through us numerous times in that first half through these channels and players, in normal play or on the counter attack.

In the second half Dier was stronger though, he started breaking up play and blocked up his channels on our right hand side. The pass for the second goal being the icing on the cake. Dembele was misfiring until the very latter stages though I thought... The one who was holding together our left hand side was arguably Vertonghen doing a man marking job and frequently stepping very high up the pitch to cut out passes into the feet of his marker.

 

[Cicada]

Lamela... purely for what he did to Febregas, again

 

[nailsy]

Dele MOTM for me. He was involved in all three goals and his general attitude was fantastic.
Eriksen was brilliant. He's so clever and influential.
Vertonghen was as reliable as ever. Lucky not to be sent off, but otherwise perfect.
Special mention for Dier for the ball for Dele's first goal. Not bad for someone who can't pass!

 

[Finchyid]

Eriksen is correct MOTM but lamela was brilliant, worked his nuts off and tried to influence the game

But i think for the second half performance they would all get a 10

 

[nailsy]

Lamela... purely for what he did to Febregas, again

It's always nice to see Fabregas get a kicking, but I just hope he doesn't try it again if we both manage to get through to the cup final. That would be a terrible idea with VAR being used.

 

[Wheeler Dealer]

Trippier by no means everybody's cup o tea, I think needs a mention for his calmness and in game management, he is such a cool customer. I dont quite know what it is, but he has something. I have seen it a few times this season, i just dont know what it is im alluding to tho, can anbody help me out?

He rarely gives the ball away, as he takes few risks, which is OK if you have other options to provide width. 1st half we were very narrow, as he and Davies were not getting forward.

 

[Wheeler Dealer]

It's always nice to see Fabregas get a kicking, but I just hope he doesn't try it again if we both manage to get through to the cup final. That would be a terrible idea with VAR being used.

Fabregas is a liability these days.. I get quite excited to see his name on their team sheet as the game more than not passes him by.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

He rarely gives the ball away, as he takes few risks, which is OK if you have other options to provide width. 1st half we were very narrow, as he and Davies were not getting forward.

That’s one of the drawbacks of playing a narrow 4231 against a 3421 though, especially the way we played it.

Every time Trippier and Davies bombed on they were getting picked off when our forwards coughed up the ball, with Willian, Hazard, Moses (see goal) and Alonso exploiting the spaces.

 

[HailKingLevy]

That’s one of the drawbacks of playing a narrow 4231 against a 3421 though, especially the way we played it.

Every time Trippier and Davies bombed on they were getting picked off when our forwards coughed up the ball, with Willian, Hazard, Moses (see goal) and Alonso exploiting the spaces.

I have to disagree with part of this, Davies was not caught forward for the goal, he was practically standing next to Verts, I'm not saying he wasn't out of position but he definatly wasn't too far forward.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

I have to disagree with part of this, Davies was not caught forward for the goal, he was practically standing next to Verts, I'm not saying he wasn't out of position but he definatly wasn't too far forward.

Agree, the goal wasn’t him caught bombing forward, but was a result of the structural deficiencies which left him exposed covering two players about 15 yards apart.