Tottenham 1-1 Chelsea

[LondonPride1905 236]

Hard to see how we can win, but let's hope it!

[Badboy 1,526]

@AUBlues I don't like him and i think that's clear for everyone to see. He's not a Chelsea player, he's a foreigner, his heart belongs somewhere else and i don't think he even knows where ! I hope Danny gets a run through the middle in January and buries this 50 million pound ladyboy.

[Kojo 4,676]

Sturridge upfront might be a good idea.

[LDN Blue 7,903]

- Drogba has only 2 PL goals. He must leave at the end of the season.

- We werent back in the title race after winning against City, we are not in the title race, we are in next CL place race, and if we lose against Spurs we will be left in a really bad situation.

Sometimes in football a couple of good results makes people forget half of a season, the problems, the changes that are needed and our real situation.

Na don't get me wrong. I'm not saying Drogba has to stay or anything like that. I'm simply saying he ahead of Torres for now.

Remember last season when Drogba was left on the bench and we were 1-0 down. He came off and we could've won 2-1 if he buried that penalty, but we still managed to get the draw. This is what I mean where he can suddenly become explosive in an instant moment, which Torres cannot at the moment.

[Liquidator 5,176]

Ivanovic

Terry

Luiz

Cole

Romeu

Meireles

Ramires

Sturridge

Drogba

Mata

If Romeu can have David Silva in his back pocket for 90 minutes then he should be able to do the same with Modric. Again, we will get destroyed with a high line by the likes of Bale, VDV etc. We should try to exploit Assou Ekottou because he is truly terrible. Sturridge and Mata will have him for breakfast

[Manuf 1,448]

Luiz and Ramires are both musts for this game. I think Lamps should watch the game from the bench, whether he's acting like a diva, he's not bigger than the club and right now, although I absolutely adore him, needs to man up and act proffesional. Other matter that I don't give shit about is whether it's Torres or Drogba playin. Drogba did have few good games so had the ladyboy but IMHO they're both shit. In Danny and Mata I trust to win this game, just like whole season.

[Laylabelle 9,535]

Hasnt been 3 point lane in yonks!!!

Big big big game here.They have that game in hand still! And gana be a tough one...be a better an easier game if we dont play like yesterday and all

[Blue Armour 4,442]

Unorthodox..hasn't been used..but this makes the most sense to me...Lampard/Meireles are too inconsistent for me...and our midfield distribution is otherwise poor without any playmaker in the centre..heck they don't even help defend properly..we have been too reliant on our front three and full backs this season for creating chances..the only thing our midfield does is score from chances created by someone else...

So I go for this formation that makes use of our forwards and our full-backs...Opinions?

[francozola 2,040]

Drogba AND Torres? Please no....

[CHOULO19 24,332]

This is by no means a game to experiment in. Our proven best 11 and no body else should start.

[Blue Armour 4,442]

Drogba AND Torres? Please no....

You can change the strike combo...but you have to admit, under the circumstances, our midfield is pretty poor and its best to have two wingers and two strikers...

[The Big Drog 1,110]

A key game for us and Spurs. We have to finish in the top four and Spurs will be one of our main rivals in that race. Key for Spurs because, it would seem, they actually might have slim aspirations of winning the league but, more realistically, also want to finish top four. Spurs are playing very well, they play an attractive style of football that is very quick and in Modric and Parker they have a quality midfield duo with penetration from Lennon and (more expertly) via Bale, they have also added a really talented striker this year in Adebayor, they are a very real threat.

There should be more space to exploit for us in this game than there was against Wigan so some of our flair players will probably enjoy this one more than the Wigan game, still though we have to play a whole lot better on Thursday than we did at the DW. I would go for (assuming these players are fit)

Cech

Ivanovic, Luiz, Terry, Cole

Ramires, Romeu, Meireles

Sturridge, Drogba, Mata

In terms of predictions? Im not confident, maybe we might get a draw, hopefully we can grab a win but we will have to be at our best to do that.

[The Big Drog 1,110]

You can change the strike combo...but you have to admit, under the circumstances, our midfield is pretty poor and its best to have two wingers and two strikers...

It would be if we had two out and out wingers (ala Bale and Lennon) and two strikers who enjoy playing in a front two and who have showed sings of forming a lethal partnership, however that isn't the case, neither Drogba or Torres have ever been at their best playing as part of a front two, both are naturally lone strikers and when we have had the "joy" of seeing them play together it hasn't exactly been a masterclass of striking partnerships.

[Blue Armour 4,442]

It would be if we had two out and out wingers (ala Bale and Lennon) and two strikers who enjoy playing in a front two and who have showed sings of forming a lethal partnership, however that isn't the case, neither Drogba or Torres have ever been at their best playing as part of a front two, both are naturally lone strikers and when we have had the "joy" of seeing them play together it hasn't exactly been a masterclass of striking partnerships.

Again, I say that this would be our best option since our midfield can rarely do anything but toss the ball from side to side...Mata and Sturridge haven't been exactly poor in the wide role...Besides, in the formation I mentioned, I was also referring to the full-backs joining in as wide attackers...The Drogba-Torres pairing is something we haven't seen this season, so I would like to see how it works given how we've tried almost everything else (besides playing McEachran in a league game of course)

[The Big Drog 1,110]

Again, I say that this would be our best option since our midfield can rarely do anything but toss the ball from side to side...Mata and Sturridge haven't been exactly poor in the wide role...Besides, in the formation I mentioned, I was also referring to the full-backs joining in as wide attackers...The Drogba-Torres pairing is something we haven't seen this season, so I would like to see how it works given how we've tried almost everything else (besides playing McEachran in a league game of course)

But do we really want to see a 2 vs 2 in midfield when Spurs have arguably the best two man central midfield in the league this season in Parker and Modric? Also they can always create the 3 with Van Der Vaart dropping deep, we don't want to be outnumbered in midfield against Spurs at WHL. Sturridge and Mata have done very well playing in a front 3, asking them to play in a 4-4-2 means both would have to drop deeper and thus lessen their goal threat and usually a basic 4-4-2 (as this would be as neither Drogba or Torres naturally drop into the hole) mean that the wingers end up playing in a straight line (like Man Utd's widemen) and that is most certainly not Juan Mata's game and I doubt Sturridge would much enjoy being limited in his movement either. It would also mean that our defensive set up would have to be altered, key to stopping Spurs is stopping Gareth Bale, we saw last season that our approach of doing this involves the right back (Ivanovic Im assuming) and Ramires coming across to double up on him, Ramires is key here as he has got genuine pace to match Bale and is very disciplined in his defending, playing a 4-4-2 means that he wont double up on Bale and Sturridge would have to assist Ivanovic in dealing with the Welsh winger and defending isn't Daniel's strongpoint (as we have seen this season). All of that and the obvious problem being that when VDV drops into the hole, we wouldn't have a marker to track him unless you want one of our centre backs to follow him and create space for Spurs quick players to exploit. A 4-4-2 has not really worked for us ever since Mourinho, now isn't the time for a 4-4-2.

[eldo 868]

Hopefully yesterdays result can motivate us to beat the yids.

[Blue Armour 4,442]

But do we really want to see a 2 vs 2 in midfield when Spurs have arguably the best two man central midfield in the league this season in Parker and Modric? Also they can always create the 3 with Van Der Vaart dropping deep, we don't want to be outnumbered in midfield against Spurs at WHL. Sturridge and Mata have done very well playing in a front 3, asking them to play in a 4-4-2 means both would have to drop deeper and thus lessen their goal threat and usually a basic 4-4-2 (as this would be as neither Drogba or Torres naturally drop into the hole) mean that the wingers end up playing in a straight line (like Man Utd's widemen) and that is most certainly not Juan Mata's game and I doubt Sturridge would much enjoy being limited in his movement either. It would also mean that our defensive set up would have to be altered, key to stopping Spurs is stopping Gareth Bale, we saw last season that our approach of doing this involves the right back (Ivanovic Im assuming) and Ramires coming across to double up on him, Ramires is key here as he has got genuine pace to match Bale and is very disciplined in his defending, playing a 4-4-2 means that he wont double up on Bale and Sturridge would have to assist Ivanovic in dealing with the Welsh winger and defending isn't Daniel's strongpoint (as we have seen this season). All of that and the obvious problem being that when VDV drops into the hole, we wouldn't have a marker to track him unless you want one of our centre backs to follow him and create space for Spurs quick players to exploit. A 4-4-2 has not really worked for us ever since Mourinho, now isn't the time for a 4-4-2.

You raise a good points about the lack of a holding midfielder to check VDV/Modric's advances and the fact that one of Torres/Drogba will have to drop deep...these are flaws, but in an attacking sense this could send the Spurs back four all over the place....If Sturridge can work well as he can, and if he works in tandem with Ramires and Ivanovic, it could be Bale and Ekoto that are pegged back...Oriol would have more work but in my formation I except both Ramires and him to restrain their attacking runs and help out defensively..Our attack will mostly be involving our front four + LWB/RB and the occasional run into the box by Ramires...so that our CM's won't be out of position when there's a counter

[Kojo 4,676]

Cech

Ivanovic-David Luiz-Terry-Cole

Ramires-Romeu

Sturridge-Mata-Malouda

Drogba

Time to test Mata down the centre and give someone responsibiliy of the left wing, as much as the useless Malouda will play bad, he is our only option i suppose, and can come back and defend, since Cole hasn't had a good season. Ramires and Romeu, will offer drive and pace, sometimes i hate Ramires tackles, most of the free kicks scored against us this season have been from his bad tackles. But lets hope he has a good day with his tackling, like he had against Liverpool when we lost 2-1 at the Bridge. Plus might offer some pace.

[The Big Drog 1,110]

You raise a good points about the lack of a holding midfielder to check VDV/Modric's advances and the fact that one of Torres/Drogba will have to drop deep...these are flaws, but in an attacking sense this could send the Spurs back four all over the place....If Sturridge can work well as he can, and if he works in tandem with Ramires and Ivanovic, it could be Bale and Ekoto that are pegged back...Oriol would have more work but in my formation I except both Ramires and him to restrain their attacking runs and help out defensively..Our attack will mostly be involving our front four + LWB/RB and the occasional run into the box by Ramires...so that our CM's won't be out of position when there's a counter

Thing is though that playing a midfield 2 instead of 3 would actually limit the amount of full backs could go forward and without Juan Mata drifting infield from the left flank and with less runs forward from our central midfielders it means there is a huge gap between our midfield and our strikers and neither Drogba or Torres play deep. Some teams are made for a 4-4-2, we don't have the players for it, particularly when the two strikers in question have played the vast majority of their careers as lone strikers and who, whenever they have played together, always seem to take up eachothers spaces, Drogba in particular has always looked a bit lost on where to run whenever he has played as part of a front 2.

[YuriZhirkov 106]

Lennon is out for injury now against sunderland, hope he miss the game against us..