Are we sitting comfortably ?
I should have been, but I couldn't. Because despite having way more of the ball and cruising to a 2-0 lead, I found myself getting increasingly vexed by our penchant for completely needless carelessness. Carelessness in possession that saw numerous good situations evaporate, carelessness out of possession that heaped completely unnecessary pressure on our goal.
In terms of situations created, 3-0 flattered us and did not tell the whole story of that game. I'm struggling to think of many quality chances we created in open play. Two of our goals were set pieces. West Brom could easily have got something out of it had they scored when they had the momentum for 25 minutes before half time or early in the second half. If Lloris wasn't on form or their finishing had been better.
I'm assuming/hoping Fazio and Paulinho were in to keep other legs fresh. If so, it's reasonable management of resources. Those two playing instead of other options isn't necessarily a tactical positive, but taking a pragmatic short term personnel decision for the long term good, is.
There are other tactical positives. Kane played in his best role as the lone striker. It seems simple but Dembele pushed up into the more advanced remit means that along with Erikisen's newly coach inspired work ethic and Lamela's ever willingness to chase and harass, we now have a front four of busy ****edness. Vital for Mopo's system to have any chance of working. I like Dembele up there because he's much better dribbling in the final third than the middle one and he is a diligent and tenacious worker, meaning we have a stronger spine with him behind Kane.
I'd have had Paulinho off at around the 60 minute mark but, to be fair, he kind of grew into the game and in the end proved me wrong, finishing the game pretty strongly.
Eriksen once again came up with beautiful free kick and is really weighing in with his share of goals (many vital), and I am loving that he works much harder for the team, but I have been a little disappointed with his creative output throughout this season. His overall contribution is still damn good, I just think his final decision pass in attacking situations has been a little careless and, of all people, I expect better from him. We need him to be creating for others a little more than he has been.
Something else that has irked me frequently is when Walker bombs on, then the play stalls and the CM's have the ball, there are times when he just stands behind or close to their LB, meaning the the CM can't risk the pass to him and is forced to turn back inside into the congestion. I've noticed Rose do this at times too. They need to read the situation and retreat a few yards and make sure they offer an outlet. They are both willing runners, and are both involved in the game throughout, just a bit of common sense and diligence.
I guess we (I) do have to factor in that we played a pretty tough semi final 3 days prior to this and accept that mental and physical fatigue will be a factor and under those conditions, 3-0 away to a Pulis West Brom is a pretty decent knock. It still just irks me how easily we go from complete control to flying by the seat of our pants and the utter abject carelessness thing drives me fucking bonkers.
Lots of familiar tropes individually:
Lloris - Very good performance. Great saves at crucial times.
Walker - A pretty normal day at the office. Lots of energetic stuff, some good moments and some daft stuff.
Fazio - Some good stuff, a sublime bit of skill when he lifted the ball over their guy, but also a careless back pass that should have been more costly.
Vertonghen - Good game. Great block just before one of Lloris's saves.
Rose - Decent game. Brilliant tackle near the line at 3-0.
Mason - decent game.
Paulinho - Good first 20 and last 30, bit ploddy in the middle.
Lamela - Didn't provide much creative magic but put in a good shift. 48 passes at 96% and plenty of work off the ball is an acceptable fall back for an ARM when the creativity is lacking.
Dembele - Did well for the assist, worked hard for the team. Pretty Good game.
Eriksen - Scored another cracking free kick, worked hard, bit disappointing creatively at decisive moments.
Kane - Graft, great finish, bit head down once or twice but a good game generally.