Tottenham Vs Chelsea: Match Thread

[michaelden]

Spot on, we need that bite in midfield. At times we can ooze class but we needed some aggression at times today. Sandro should've come on the second they started to enjoy some possession. He could've kept an eye on Mata!

100%

Our defence dropped off but it midfield was still pressing which left far too much space for Mata, Oscar and Shurrle to exploit. Sandro would have bridged that gap and prevented a lot of the pressure on the back four.

Townsend off was right and Chadli is a better defence option than him and Lamela. Eriksen was fading but I would have brought on Sandro and played Dembele at CAM.

This would change the shape to 4-2-3-1 with Chadli - Dembele - Siggy behind Soldado. The players are familiar with this shape and it would help us spread our defense across the pitch and not be so narrow.

I think AvB waited too long to make his subs to. The time to bring in Sandro was around the 52nd minute when it was clear that Mata was interchanging with the other AMs and exploiting the space in front of the defence. Chadli for townsend not long after.

The last sub was pointless. Defoe wasn't going to ease pressure on the defence. I think Naughton for Chireches or another CB would've been a safer option.

The shape would be :-

-------Dawson--Verts--Chireches
Walker----Paulinho--Sandro
-----Siggy--Dembele - Chadli
-----------Soldado

 

[Oshi]

Ramires moving inside did it, he cut off all supply to Eriksen etc. the guy was a boss.

He looks like a wee slip of a man but my god is he a hell of a player, we needed to match this move by bringing on the Berserker General Lord Commander Sandro to nullify Mata et al.

 

[N17Jack]

100%

Our defence dropped off but it midfield was still pressing which left far too much space for Mata, Oscar and Shurrle to exploit. Sandro would have bridged that gap and prevented a lot of the pressure on the back four.

Townsend off was right and Chadli is a better defence option than him and Lamela. Eriksen was fading but I would have brought on Sandro and played Dembele at CAM.

This would change the shape to 4-2-3-1 with Chadli - Dembele - Siggy behind Soldado. The players are familiar with this shape and it would help us spread our defense across the pitch and not be so narrow.

I think AvB waited too long to make his subs to. The time to bring in Sandro was around the 52nd minute when it was clear that Mata was interchanging with the other AMs and exploiting the space in front of the defence. Chadli for townsend not long after.

The last sub was pointless. Defoe wasn't going to ease pressure on the defence. I think Naughton for Chireches or another CB would've been a safer option.

The shape would be :-

-------Dawson--Verts--Chireches
Walker----Paulinho--Sandro
-----Siggy--Dembele - Chadli
-----------Soldado

Lucky your not the Manager then.

 

[michaelden]

Ramires moving inside did it, he cut off all supply to Eriksen etc. the guy was a boss.

He looks like a wee slip of a man but my god is he a hell of a player, we needed to match this move by bringing on the Berserker General Lord Commander Sandro to nullify Mata et al.

Egg-Zak-Lee! Ramires did what we needed Sandro to do.

 

[jambreck]

If you honestly stopped reading at "I honestly stopped reading at "the soldier", how on earth did you know what he then said (highlighted in bold above)?

Err..........I'm not sure that you've read either the thread or my post properly, mate!

The words you've quoted are Grapo 2001's. Not mine. I merely quoted them (see where the inverted commas start and end) as a mild piss take of his post.

But if you had made your point to Grapo, as it was intended, it would have been a very valid question!

 

[cheeseman]

"Tottenham's Andros Townsend apologises for 'dive' against Chelsea"

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/sep/29/tottenham-andros-townsend-chelsea

Andros Townsend has conceded he must eradicate diving from his game after apologising to the referee, Mike Dean, for the first-half tumble which earned him a booking in Tottenham Hotspur's 1-1 draw with Chelsea on Saturday.
The 22-year-old was watched by the England manager, Roy Hodgson, at White Hart Lane as he impressed for over an hour in direct confrontation with the left-back, Ashley Cole. Yet Townsend rather blotted his copybook by tumbling to the turf in a challenge with Frank Lampard, who withdrew his leg before the Spurs player fell, to earn a first-half caution and prompt his confession as the players went in a the break.
"It was definitely a yellow card," Townsend said. "I said to the referee at half-time that, as I have come inside, the leg was there and [Lampard] has pulled out at the last minute but I still went over, so it was a deserved yellow card. I have got to kick it out of my game. Everything happens so fast. I didn't have time to react to him pulling out at the last second. It's sort of instinct. You make mistakes and that dive was a mistake.
"I apologised to the referee and said I thoroughly deserved it and, hopefully, I won't do that again. It was a deserved booking. The penalty I won against Swansea [last month] people said was a dive but there was a little touch and, if you're running that fast, you are going to go over. When you watch it in slow motion it doesn't look like a foul but running that fast you go over at the slightest touch. If there's contact, it's not a dive but he [Lampard] pulled out here."
Lampard concurred with the youngster's assessment. "Maybe he was waiting for contact and it didn't come and he fell over and, you know what, you get a yellow card and carry on," he said. "We don't need to turn it into a diving campaign because that would get legs very quickly. He's a great talent and he's going to be a big player for Tottenham and for England."
Hodgson would no doubt agree and is expected to retain Townsend in his squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Montenegro and Poland. The Tottenham player was included in the party for last month's fixtures but went unused and is awaiting a first cap, though his chances of involvement have improved with Arsenal's Theo Walcott ruled out of both matches after stomach surgery.
"He [Hodgson] said to me before the two games last month that he had been watching me not only this season, but for the last six months when I was at Queens Park Rangers on loan," Townsend said. "He told me to continue what I am doing and I will get in the squad, so that is what I am going to try to do – just try to play well every time I have an opportunity and, hopefully, I can break in to that squad again.
"I play my game with no fear whether it's against Ashley Cole, Kieran Gibbs or whoever. I just go out there, enjoy myself and try to make things happen."

 

[ClintEastwould]

i dont really think townsend dives and im saying this from experience. i fall over all the time during pick up games due to the nature of my game. i am a wide player usually and run at pace constantly, any slight obstactle at that speed is enough to disrupt my balance. i have absolutely no reason to dive or play act amongst my mates but i do go to ground easily. the reason i compare this to townsend is because its not like he's swan diving ala bale or suarez arms flailing and writhing in pain, i see a loss of balance.

this is why i dont understand why diving is viewed in such black and white terms, just because there wasnt a foul or contact doesn't mean its a dive.

 

[InOffMeLeftShin]

It's refreshing to read that from Townsend. He might get targeted by refs now but I like that he has admitted his mistake rather than pretend it hasn't happened. I think players moving that fast will look to get out of the way of challenges, it is completely understandable as getting caught at pace can result in lengthy injuries etc. The problem I have with it is when they are looking to win something from it or get the opponent in trouble. I genuinely don't think Townsend did that, he wasn't really gaining any advantage from going down I think it was just an instinctive reaction.