Every home game is going to be a Cup Final now! But can we make Wembley home?
We have lost 6 out of our 10 previous fixtures at Wembley since it was rebuilt, and it’s been said the larger playing area at Wembley has hampered our side’s usual pressing game, Poch says we will have to adapt.
Its 121 days ago since we got beat 4-2 by Chelsea in the FA Cup Semi-Final we need that defeat to be avenged! Woolwich played six league matches at Wembley with crowds of over 70,000 at each, they won just twice, drew once and lost three times. WHL was the second smallest pitch in the Prem so lack of space was sometimes on our side. WHL was 440 square metres smaller than Wembley. However, 15 out of the 20 Prem Clubs pitches are the same size as Wembley. Eriksen ran 7.2 miles against Newcastle last Sunday. It gives you some idea of how much extra leg work the team will have to do if we are to use our high press game.
So how high a line will our back four or three play given the space left behind by a bigger pitch? We concede 50% more goals playing on bigger pitches than we do playing at WHL. We have faced 10.3 shots with 3 on target per game away, at WHL we faced just 6.9 shots with 2 on target per game. We are not allowed the full allocation for this match as it’s deemed as ‘high risk’. Police and Brent Council think that putting tickets on general sale will mean Chelski support will buy tickets in the Spurs end. Blocks 112-117 will be allocated for away fans with a ticket allocation of 3,000 but will 20,000 below capacity affect the atmosphere?
‘It was important to start with three points, but it wasn’t a great game and wasn’t our best performance’ said Poch. Spurs have won 29 of their last 31 Premier League games against newly-promoted sides, drawing the other two. Our Academy players are starting to come through. We have another Kyle now, Kyle Walker Peters. Chelsea may be a step up too high for KWP on Sunday and Poch may call in Trippier for this one but KWP’s work ethic was good and provides us with a viable alternative to Trippier. KWP became the eighth Tottenham academy player to make his debut under Poch and he was named the man of the match and gave a post-match speech to the lads in the dressing room. He follows the likes of Josh Onomah, Harry Winks, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Marcus Edwards, Anton Walkes, Shayon Harrison and Filip Lesniak, who have also come through the Spurs’ academy and been given debuts by Poch and as well as the now departed Ryan Mason.
Antonio Conte’s is a man under pressure, but then, what Chelsea manager is never under pressure? The result against Burnley was one thing but losing Cahill and Fabregas to suspension weakens them, although, strangely, Chelski’s win rate is higher when ‘Fabarse’ doesn’t play. It’s also goodbye and good riddance to Diego Costa and hello, Alvaro Morata. When you look at the money Chelsea have already spent on players, £130 million on Antonio Rudiger, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Alvaro Morata it hasn`t stopped Conte wanting more players. Makes you realise just how different our two club’s philosophies are. Chelsea want to buy their success, we are building our team through the Academy and developing players.
Conte is short in midfield following the exit of Nemanja Matic and Nathaniel Chalobah to Manchester United and Watford respectively, while Ruben Loftus-Cheek is on loan at Crystal Palace. Eden Hazard is absent through injury whilst Pedro is still a doubt with an ankle injury. If Tiemoue Bakayoko is side lined with a knee injury, Conte will have no specialist central midfield player to start alongside N’Golo Kante. Kante will be a handful but with no Hazard that is a bonus!
Conte famously went 3-4-3 last season after defeats to Liverpool and the Woolwich, and the rest was history. Chelsea embarked on a 13-game winning streak, surged to the top of the table and remained there. Will Conte play 3-4-3 against us given his injuries and suspensions? Chelsea were 3-0 down against Burnley and battled back in the second half with goals from Alvaro Morata and David Luiz. That should be a warning to us. Conte does have the man power to turn results around. It won’t be easy, but Wembley is a place for heroes and Morata and Christensen could turn it on for Conte. David Luiz should stay CB though, as the last line of defence. Conte is likely to play Andreas Christensen. Christensen will have to step up. He has played as a holding midfielder for Denmark before, and Conte had him move up into midfield late in the Burnley match. He will make Chelsea hard to break down and may rotate with Luiz or switch if things are not going well, so Dier, Wanyama and Dembele have an important role to play, expect 3 at the back to basically out number them in midfield with Davies and Trippier playing effectively as a 5 at the back when defending.
Harry Kane is one short of reaching 100 goals for Tottenham. Deadly Dele Alli says ‘there is no substitute for Tottenham telepathy and Eriksen Kane and Alli are now probably the best front 3 in the Prem,’ although United may have something to say about that! ‘It’s no surprise to see Christian playing like that, as he is one of the best in the League,’ said Kane. ‘He gets into those pockets of space where he is so hard to pick up and he got two more assists.
‘Both goals came from good movement and round-the-corner passes and that is what we are all about. It’s good to start developing that sharpness after pre-season.’
Since the start of the 2015-16 season, Christian Eriksen has assisted more Premier League goals than any other player (30). It could be argued that ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ but Poch wants more player competition. ‘You can basically pick the same nine of Tottenham’s players before a game.’
Spurs have now won 13 of their past 14 Premier League games losing only 1 winning each of their past four, scoring 17 goals on the way and Ben Davies is now on a run having scored twice in his past two Premier League appearances, as many as he has done in his previous 102 starts. Can we win? We have to win! We absolutely have to win this one, for all sorts of reasons but most of all to prove to ourselves that we can make Wembley home.
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