A topsy-turvy affair on and off the pitch at Stamford Bridge saw Spurs snatch a point at the death after looking like we’d leave West London empty-handed yet again.
Unchanged from last weekend’s win against Southampton, Spurs just didn’t get going, and it was no surprise to see Koulibaly open the scoring with a powerful volley from Cucurella’s corner just before the twenty minute mark. Chelsea’s dominance persisted, and would have boasted a healthier advantage going into half-time were it not for some erratic finishing.
Conte responded to Chelsea’s dominance by replacing Sessegnon with Richarlison and switching to a 4-4-2 early on in the second half, which caught Chelsea out momentarily. Indeed, Hojbjerg equalised with a well-taken shot from the edge of the area following good work from Davies. The goal was fraught with controversy, with Chelsea complaining of both a foul from Bentancur on Havertz, and a potentially offside Richarlison obstructing Mendy’s view, prompting handbags on the touchline between both coaching teams.
Barely had the dust settled from the fracas before Chelsea regained the lead through James, whose powerful effort seemingly sent Chelsea en route to consecutive victories. However, Conte reverted to a back three by putting on Bissouma and Perisic, and just as it looked like the game was gone, Kane nodded Perisic’s neat corner into Chelsea’s net in front of the visiting fans in the sixth minute of injury time, cue delirium in the away end, further handbags on the touchline, and red cards for Conte and Tuchel!
I’m not usually a fan of a 4-4-2. It’s time seems to have passed. I’d have opted for a 4-6-0, with a different couple of players breaking into the front depending on the circumstances. It’s almost the formation Spain was using when tiki-taki won Europe for them.
Anyway, the brief switch to 4-4-2 worked well yesterday as it threw Skum off what had been working for them.
We’re still two players more-or-less short of what we need in the squad. Need another right wing back and a creative midfielder. Come on you Paratici! Find a replacement for Royal Jelly and our next Modric (lol).
Have our formation been found out. Are we too predictable now. We need a variation in our play. We need to sustain and apply pressure in the final third for longer periods.
Some shifty midfielder from Ukraine possibly coming in? Maybe some creativity in the midfield?
We need something on this order so we have some tactical flexibility. Eventually any team that has a single dominant formation encounters counter tactics that force change on them.