Closed Spurs vs Chelsea

[The Skipper 20,609]

Lets have em!

[Laylabelle 9,539]

6 years or so since we last won there in the league...thats a bit mental!Due a win!

[CHOULO19 24,332]

We just can't lose there but I'd definitely take a draw. At least we can be sure Lamps will score.

[kellzfresh 7,229]

We have to win this, we don't want AVB having one over us.

This will be the perfect match to finally win at the white heart lane. Its been so long. We have to put them in their place- (europa league team)

[OneMoSalah 8,889]

Can't let Spurs get an early foothold in this one like United did. If we do we all know they will sit it out like they did vs Utd.... 3-0 must win.

[kellzfresh 7,229]

2-0 win

[TorontoChelsea 4,064]

This is when it starts to get tough. In the next 10 games we're at Spurs, at Donetsk, home against ManU twice, at Swansea, home to Donetsk, Liverpool, at West Brom and Juventus, home to City. Not one easy match there and almost all very difficult ones. Looking forward to the challenge.

[TorontoChelsea 4,064]

Was thinking a bit about this. I'll be very interested in what RDM does for this match because Spurs are a team that naturally will be difficult for Chelsea. They have real width and they tend to attack from there. We haven't really played a team like that so far. It will be interesting how RDM decides to play it because his preferred lineup seems to fit very poorly in this match.. Mata and Ivanovic marking Bale and Vertonghen? Yikes. It will be interesting to see if RDM goes with what's been working recently or plays the matchup more.

[chealsist 23]

We can not lose this game.no way. Can u imagine AVB's face if Nando scores hahahaha

[Kojo 4,676]

I fucking hope he doesn't do his stupid bastard celebrations against us.

[Bir_CFC 3,455]

This is gonna be a tough game for sure. Our toughest one yet imo.

[KonohasOrangeFlash 2,607]

I'm inclined to say this will be a draw but only for the sake of Caution. We as a team are brimming with confidence. Although this match will be tough, I don't worry one bit about Spurs to be honest. I think we can go there and get the job done. However, a draw will suffice and would mean we need to beat ManUre at home. We need at least 4 points from the next 2 games (Twattenham and ManUre). That'll be a good result for me. This could be a cracking game. I can't really see us getting beaten.

[The Skipper 20,609]

Was thinking a bit about this. I'll be very interested in what RDM does for this match because Spurs are a team that naturally will be difficult for Chelsea. They have real width and they tend to attack from there. We haven't really played a team like that so far. It will be interesting how RDM decides to play it because his preferred lineup seems to fit very poorly in this match.. Mata and Ivanovic marking Bale and Vertonghen? Yikes. It will be interesting to see if RDM goes with what's been working recently or plays the matchup more.

I sort of agree with you. It's going to be a headache for RDM deciding whether to stick to our guns and test the central foundation of Tottenham via starting Oscar, Mata and Hazard or choosing whether to negate Tottenham's wing play.

The less risky option, which I expect him to take, is to play with one defensive winger to slow down Tottenham's attack on the wings which will force them to play through the middle more often or the more adventurous option, to really test Tottenham through the middle of the park with our three maestros.

Evidently, you could say that Arsenal are a threat out wide too due to their speedy wingers and excellent counter attacking but we negated that pretty well due to Ashley and Bran not venturing forward too often. If we play a similar sort of game like we did against Arsenal tactically (where RDM brought on Moses to create more space against tiring defenders, could do the same with Marin) I think we might stand a better chance instead of playing with a defensive winger. We can go out there and play our own game through the middle instead of focusing too much on trying to stop them.

It's a tough call for Robbie and Eddie and the rest of the coaching staff. I'm not entirely sure what we should go with since this current team as you rightly pointed out haven't really faced a team like Tottenham, but I have confidence that if we try and boss the middle of the park we might stand a better chance.

I'll try and catch the Spurs game tomorrow to see if my thoughts actually match the real thing.

[TorontoChelsea 4,064]

I sort of agree with you. It's going to be a headache for RDM deciding whether to stick to our guns and test the central foundation of Tottenham via starting Oscar, Mata and Hazard or choosing whether to negate Tottenham's wing play.

The less risky option, which I expect him to take, is to play with one defensive winger to slow down Tottenham's attack on the wings which will force them to play through the middle more often or the more adventurous option, to really test Tottenham through the middle of the park with our three maestros.

Evidently, you could say that Arsenal are a threat out wide too due to their speedy wingers and excellent counter attacking but we negated that pretty well due to Ashley and Bran not venturing forward too often. If we play a similar sort of game like we did against Arsenal tactically (where RDM brought on Moses to create more space against tiring defenders, could do the same with Marin) I think we might stand a better chance instead of playing with a defensive winger. We can go out there and play our own game through the middle instead of focusing too much on trying to stop them.

It's a tough call for Robbie and Eddie and the rest of the coaching staff. I'm not entirely sure what we should go with since this current team as you rightly pointed out haven't really faced a team like Tottenham, but I have confidence that if we try and boss the middle of the park we might stand a better chance.

Arsenal have wingers but they generally build up pretty centrally through Arteta and Cazorla. I was surprised by the way Arsenal came out to be honest. Podolski and Ramsey on the wings gave them no width at all then when they brought on Oxlade-Chamberlin, he was able to take advantage of the space some more but ended up drifting too centrally (and kind of all over the place). Still, thought it was surprising not to take advantage of what we were giving them. Spurs are different. They have Walker and Lennon on the right and Bale and Vertonghen on the left. Bale can drift in some but their natural width can really open up our side and allow for space for Defoe (Or Dempsey or even Dembele) to run into.. I'd actually probably prefer Ramires on the right for this game because I think Ivanovic's defensive positioning has been poor this season and Mata provides basically no cover for that. However, as you say, we might decided to take the game to them. If we do that successfully, we might force Lennon and Bale inside to defend and they'd lose some of their width. They are definitely beatable, but it will be tough. (I think the ManU/Spurs match makes for interesting scouting. Here's the MOTD if you haven't seen it. http://www.soccer-blogger.com/2012/09/29/manchester-united-vs-tottenham-2-3-highlights-2012-vertonghen-bale-nani-kagawa-dempsey-goals-video/)

[Waterfall 893]

Although Frank did well, I would like same lineup as Arsenal game. We could use Ramires' athleticism

[AndersonBLUE 819]

Would donate my left testicle to win this game

[Chelsea? 892]

I sort of agree with you. It's going to be a headache for RDM deciding whether to stick to our guns and test the central foundation of Tottenham via starting Oscar, Mata and Hazard or choosing whether to negate Tottenham's wing play.

The less risky option, which I expect him to take, is to play with one defensive winger to slow down Tottenham's attack on the wings which will force them to play through the middle more often or the more adventurous option, to really test Tottenham through the middle of the park with our three maestros.

Evidently, you could say that Arsenal are a threat out wide too due to their speedy wingers and excellent counter attacking but we negated that pretty well due to Ashley and Bran not venturing forward too often. If we play a similar sort of game like we did against Arsenal tactically (where RDM brought on Moses to create more space against tiring defenders, could do the same with Marin) I think we might stand a better chance instead of playing with a defensive winger. We can go out there and play our own game through the middle instead of focusing too much on trying to stop them.

It's a tough call for Robbie and Eddie and the rest of the coaching staff. I'm not entirely sure what we should go with since this current team as you rightly pointed out haven't really faced a team like Tottenham, but I have confidence that if we try and boss the middle of the park we might stand a better chance.

I'll try and catch the Spurs game tomorrow to see if my thoughts actually match the real thing.

gotta stick to the 3 and see how far it can take us. But maybe put oscar on the wing since he might do a better job defensively than Mata.

[Strike 7,533]

Top scorers

1 Demba Ba Newcastle United 6

2 Steven Fletcher Sunderland 5

Michu Swansea City 5

Luis Suárez Liverpool 5

Robin van Persie Manchester United 5

6 Peter Crouch Stoke City 4

Jermain Defoe Tottenham Hotspur 4

Nikica Jelavić Everton 4

Rickie Lambert Southampton 4

Fernando Torres Chelsea 4

Assists

1 Eden Hazard Chelsea 6

2 Juan Mata Chelsea 4

Santi Cazorla Arsenal 3

[Stats 7,156]

This is a game where I would not mind seeing Ramires on the wings. Although playing with Hazard-Oscar-Mata worked against Arsenal, Tottenham is a different set of players to deal with. There wingers in Bale and Lennon are much more direct and faster than Arsenal's wingers played against us. Cole and Ivanovic IMO will need help to deal with the likes of Lennon and Bale. Bale is the more standout player fo the two which is why maybe I would like to see Ramires track him back throughout the match. I wonder if he does decide to play Bertrand and Ramires both because as well as Bale and Lennon who I already mentioned you also have the bombarding running of Walker and maybe Bertrand is the only one suited to tracking his super fast touchline runs.

I am thinking: Hazard-Mata-Ramires. Play it a bit more cautious, especially as we are away from home. Also Lampard has to be dropped for this one, definitely need to see Ramires and Mikel in the double-pivot, worked against Arsenal. If BAE is still out for Tottenham by the time we play them the LB is definitely an area to target them at so RDM will have that in consideration. Expecting a tight game for this one, hopefully we win but 2 of the biggest in for, clubs playing each other as I am sure they will demolish Villa later today.

[Kieran. 6,317]

I am thinking: Hazard-Mata-Ramires. Play it a bit more cautious, especially as we are away from home. Also Lampard has to be dropped for this one, definitely need to see Ramires and Mikel in the double-pivot, worked against Arsenal.

So you want Ramires to play RAM and in the double pivot?!