2020/21’s congested fixture list continues for Tottenham Hotspur as we have another speedy turnaround from European action and we look forward to this years’ trip to Stamford Bridge to take on Frank Lampard’s Chelsea team.
The game always has some spice to it for understandable reasons but I doubt the Pensioners will have yet forgiven manager Jose Mourinho for his u-turn and I significantly doubt we sit in top spot in front of them by two points, so there’s no way we can be complacent for this one as more than bragging rights are up for grabs.
As we know, Toby Alderweireld will be out for this one with his muscle injury, but it seems the club are pretty confident that Hugo Lloris, Erik Lamela and Steven Bergwijn will pass late fitness tests after the knocks they picked up over the last week which saw them miss out on Ludogorets.
Until we kick off, all eyes to the other fixtures to see whether we can open up a gap at the top of the table on Sunday – whichever way you look at this game, the result is the important thing, not specifically the performance but if we can keep our improvements going, even better.
Chelsea...
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Hot Tottingham- Lets review what you actually wrote shall we ? – “if Jose wasn’t so intent on making us concede so much possession to the likes of Chelsea”. The only way that makes any sense is if there was a better way to play and actually get something out of the game, otherwise its just stupidity. If there was a better way to play then obviously its a criticism of the manager for not doing it. If you said something contradictory earlier that’s a comment on you.
Hi Jod
I’m not speaking up for HT here, he can easily do that for himself.
But I read it, that we are making our selves hard to beat and that we have improved defensively.
And its setting us up against a strong team not to concede goals.
But in doing that we concede possession and there for the focus is on our defensive qualities or frailties.
But I think we came through these difficult games both City and Chelsea very well.
Yes we could’ve been better offensively but the main thing is not conceding to a very strong team.
I was just being somewhat lighthearted jod… But yes there is a contradiction of sorts in there that I am fully aware of. But it doesn’t make me stupid.
I can be critical of certain aspects of Jose’s tactics and yet accept that they are working and maybe even necessary right now…
The fact that I have been praising Jose and the team doesn’t mean they can’t, won’t or shouldn’t improve in being more positive in attack, more often. And when this happens, I will make an observation on that as well. But to say that I wish Jose to fail is just pure nonsense from you. It’s a very childlike response…
I have backed Jose from the start. Albeit I was very critical of him until the start of this season. I have stopped criticising him now. But, It won’t stop me wanting to see more attacking football when we have some of the best attackers in Europe… This is not a contradiction just a desire to continue defending as we are and slowly but surely get more progressive in our play. I think we will…
OMG! Fulham 2-0 up at Leicester at half-time, get in, this truly is a strange season. Scotty looking to do us a favour, let’s hope they can keep it up for another 45 minutes!
Good win for Fulham.
Couldn’t have been more wrong on the Cup draw…..Marine away! 🙂
Seems to me that, in adopting the strategy of conceding possession to some teams, we have tightened up our defence without affecting our attacking ability. The evidence is in the league table as we have conceded the fewest goals whilst scoring the most (almost)!
I’m afraid I do not share some of the comments ref goals scored and conceeded
We scored 11 goals in 2 matches but only 10 in the other 8 !!
Yes defensively we have let in fewer goals but only 1 less than Chelsea who have scored one more !!
Because of Jose’s tactics we have made poor teams look good snatching a late goal with members on the site commenting negatively on our playing style at the time .
I suppose if we win the league averaging 1.2 goals in our final 30 games I ought to be happy .
However let’s not get carried away with the goals scored argument .. Considering the fire power we are supposed to have 1.2 goals in 8 matches is a poor return and we eventually will be singing 1 nil to the Spurs which I think would be rather sad !!
Allan …. We have also beaten United, City and Chelsea (league Cup). Not bad for any team to do. Stats can be made to fit any argument but the reality lies in the verifiable stats displayed on the PL table. What’s not to like? Obviously there is still a long way to go and fortunes can, and probably will, change on a weekly basis but that shouldn’t deter supporters from adopting a sense of optimism when the opportunity arises. And the opportunity has arisen so let’s enjoy it while we can.
Guys, I wasn’t making any in depth analyses of the pros and cons of Joses tactics. And I didn’t mention anything to do with goals for and against. I was just defending our new CB Rodon by saying he had a hell of a lot of work to do because of the team conceding so much possession to Chelsea. And therefore this increased the chances of him making the odd mistake or two on his PL debut against the PL’s top scorers… I then went on to say that I would like us to be a bit more positive in attack sometimes. That is all. Again just a simple observation after the match. No big deal…
I’m not sure that this is in anyway controversial or damning of Jose. It was indeed just a simple observation.
If I wanted to slag Jose off and I wished him failure, I would do so… I’m not shy!
I have fully stated several times on here over several weeks, that I now get what Jose is doing whilst building this new Spurs team in his own image… I’m cool with that. I simply made an observation on this one match, based on a fact…
And if its different vs Arsenal on the weekend, my opinion (if I give one) will be different on that match. And what I will state will be honest. There will not be any hidden meanings…
Anyway..
As for our goals for and against. It’s our goal difference that sees us sitting at the top above Liverpool, not points. So, it doesn’t matter if most of those goals scored were in just two matches. They have given us a very good advantage in what is a very tight top half of the PL right now.
I’m happy with 2-0 vs City and nil, nil vs Chelsea. And I have no doubt that we will win other matches this season by 3 or more goals. But if we play good competitive football and win most matches by just the one or two goals. I’m okay with that. And, I won’t be calling us “lucky Spurs”…
But, wouldn’t it be lovely if we thrash the Gooners on Sunday? We’re good enough to… 😉
Oh wouldn’t it be luvverly…
I agree with much of the opinions of Geof and HT and am simply stating facts .
if we continue to score at the rate we are doing then in the final 30 games we will have scored a further 37.5 goals !!
At present we are top on goal difference but I cannot see us winning the league on goal difference if the statistics are played out .
Yes I fully appreciate the negative tactics vs City ans Chelsea but against lesser tems we have only won by the odd goal !!
The week after we played Burley Chelsea put 3 past them on their ground and City hammered them last weekend !!
On the present showing if we finish on top with the same points as say Chelsea then we will lose it on goal difference which would be a pity since our attacking play can be brilliant .
I hope that I will be proved wrong and that goal difference will not be the deciding factor on us winning the league which would please me no end .
As Geoff says lets try and put Arsenal to the sword !!
Sorry . In the final 28 games only 35 goals will be scored !!!
Allan …. I get what you’re saying and you are not wrong, but remember those ‘lesser teams’ were mostly bus-parking teams …. teams that often prove difficult to break down. The other ‘top’ clubs find them difficult to break down as well, which is why we are on top. This seems to be how the rest of the season might play out.
I get fully what you are saying Allan.
It’s a similar reaction to mine after the Chelsea match. I was chuffed to keep a clean sheet and get the draw. I thought we defended really well. But as I also mentioned, we have some of the best attackers in Europe. And so I was a little disappointed that we didn’t see them in action for much of the game. Son and Kane were the quietest players on the pitch. And being a Spurs supporter I naturally want to see them do what they do best. We didn’t see that vs Chelsea.
Then again, that wasn’t just down to Jose’s tactics. It also had a lot to do with Lampard’s tactics and his defence. They also defended very well but in a different way, given their more attacking set-up overall.
Morning folks some good stuff here.
I think JM is just making us hard to beat.
He wants a strong defence which starts just over the 1/2 way line.
Its a move away from the high press which does give the othe team possession, he seems happy to do this against the bigger teams.
It can be a frustrating watch, but it seems to be paying dividends.
Like HT and others, I take it for now while it’s working.
I like many would like to see a bit more attacking play.
However I think Man U’s first title year, many of the games they won were 1-0ers just about getting past teams.
Allan totally get where you’re coming from m8.
I see the gossip columns are talking about us considering the purchase of a Ferrari. :- )
Just to make it clear….”Tottenham Hotspur have reportedly identified Sassuolo defender Gian Marco Ferrari as a potential transfer target.” A 28 year old left footed centre back apparently valued at just £7.5m.
So, what’s wrong with the left-sided CB we currently have?
Eric (The Ford Escort) Dier not good enough for you, Jose?
Noticed that one TQ Sassoulo are sitting well up in Seria A.
His stats (for what they’re worth) seem decent.
I just can’t help but see Dave out the door.
I feel JM has no faith in him.
So there could be a couple of recruits coming in at the back.
I don’t actually see clubs doing much business in January, if we were to then I would suggest central defence is our weakest (as opposed to weak) area of the pitch. As you say Niall, I’m not sure Jose is sold on Sanchez and we are aware that Toby advancing in years. Apart from this the only position for me that we could improve is attacking midfield and we would need somebody of the standard of Bruno Fernandes or better if we wanted to improve on what we already have! Personally, I’m not sold on Grealish, it got quite boring watching him play for fouls last night and throwing himself to the floor at every opportunity, one of those being almost comical in it’s blatency as a dive.
Danny … It could be time for a new match-day thread, mate. They just keep coming, don’t they. : – )