Closed Spurs 2-4 Chelsea

[LayZ 201]

Just Wow. The front four are totally in sync. The Hazard Pass to Mata was class. He didnt even look up to see where Mata was. He just knew that Mata would make that run. Similarly, Mata had his back to the oppositions goal but knew torres's run and splits open the defense with a pass to Torres. Its a shame he couldnt bury it.

If only Torres was on form, we would be Demolishing teams left right and center. Right now, we are not there yet but well on our way.

Man Utd have been leaking goals and I would be surprised if we dont score. Oscar, Hazard, Mata are so mesmerizing, it is impossible to track them.

Hazard's through ball for Mata was soooo similar to the one that Mata played to him against Norwich...I bet those two practice that move once everyone leaves after training...

Torres usually puts in a decent shift against Manchester United,I am hoping he will lift his game a notch next weekend...

[Tomo 21,733]

3. Roberto Di Matteo is unbeaten in 9 matches against Tottenham as player and manager.

10 as he was assistant in the 1-1 draw at WHL last season.

[Jase 43,479]

10 as he was assistant in the 1-1 draw at WHL last season.

Said "as player and manager". Being an assistant doesn't count.

[nadavTKL 1,787]

Am i a weirdo that i watch most of our games twice this season? gonna watch this one again now lol

[Tomo 21,733]

Said "as player and manager". Being an assistant doesn't count.

Calm down i was just pointing it out A loss would have been a loss, if we lost yesterday does that mean Eddie's own unbeaten record against Spurs would have still be intact?

[Tomo 21,733]

Then yesterday, there were some poor marking from set pieces as well as our failure to prevent crosses coming into our own penalty box.

If Pulis and Big Sam saw that they will be licking their lips at the prospect of facing us.

[Thor 2,392]

I didn't get a chance to watch the whole game, but saw the first three of our goals.

The main thing I wanted to know is, when did Sturridge come on? What position did he play? Also, how did he look? Put in a decent shift?

[zolayes 14,489]

If Pulis and Big Sam saw that they will be licking their lips at the prospect of facing us.

we have already kept a clean sheet against Stoke

[TheCount 146]

If Pulis and Big Sam saw that they will be licking their lips at the prospect of facing us.

Its a big problem tho, we need more balance leadership (Without lamps and terry) and variation then we'll be perfect.

Wouldn't say our defence have been watertight either. Norwich caused several us problems defensively and created some good chances last week. Then yesterday, there were some poor marking from set pieces as well as our failure to prevent crosses coming into our own penalty box. Really need to sort that out ASAP.

And thats exactly how were going to leak goals against UTD, best team atm for breaking down the bus and putting crosses into the box.

[Kieran. 6,317]

I didn't get a chance to watch the whole game, but saw the first three of our goals.

The main thing I wanted to know is, when did Sturridge come on? What position did he play? Also, how did he look? Put in a decent shift?

He came on in the 81st minute I believe. It seemed like him and Torres were both playing striker, though on the goal it was Danny who was at CF and Torres was at RW.

He got one chance and scored, so yeah it was a pretty good cameo.

[couris 232]

I didn't get a chance to watch the whole game, but saw the first three of our goals.

The main thing I wanted to know is, when did Sturridge come on? What position did he play? Also, how did he look? Put in a decent shift?

Sturridge CF, Torres deeper or RW...

[Jase 43,479]

Calm down i was just pointing it out A loss would have been a loss, if we lost yesterday does that mean Eddie's own unbeaten record against Spurs would have still be intact?

In your book, that would be yes.

[warnie_666 1,081]

Replace Torres with Falcao - that is mouth watering

That would be ridiculous. To think that Mata is 24, Oscar is 21 and Hazard is 21 and one of them is playing his second season while the other two are in their first season and already mezmerizing the defenses, you can only imagine what will happen in future. Add Falcao to that and we would be unstoppable.

[Owizzy 19]

Good Game Good Result. We are getting there... not there yet, but we will get there!!!! Good work Boyzzzzz!!!!

Few pointers: What if Bale was there for Spurs???

YES - Bale could make some difference

Bale can make Ivanovic concede a yellow card - which means costly!!.

Then on the left flank Ashley Cole did not do enough as an experienced defender to curtail Lennon, Ash was always moving backwards while Lennon comes at him. The way to stop Lennon is Stay right in front of him, ignore him and focus on wherever the ball goes then swipe the ball away from Lennon - Simple!. If he comes at Ash 3ce and doesnt succeed in going forward, he wouldnt come back again rather he would pass the ball as soon as it comes to him. Ashley take note of this in the future when you meet players who have speed but minimal tact.

Back to Bale - If Bale was there we will respond with our own offence. My prayer is Victor Moses be giving more game time, i notice he rarely looses possesion.

The way to disrupt an opposition attack is not only by defending well but also by tormenting them with a solid attack, that will reduce the opponents focus on attacking as they know committing more players in to attacking would be detrimental to their victory in the presence of the well-knit attack that Chelsea FC is brewing up.

And on Torres, I still respect him to date, but one goal he would have scored was the one-on-one with Freidel, instead of attempting a convetional chip over Brad, he should have used the un-conventional sidekick which Ramires attempted towards the end of the game. I have seen Torres do this successfully in the past. That trick would have fooled Brad and would have made Torres the winner of goal of the month... lol (Just me saying some funny things, part of the celebrations of the derby win).

RDM, Please give Victor Moses playing time start trying out our new acqusitions particularly the wing-back positions (Bertrand/Azpi).

Didnt know we still have comrade Paulo Ferreira in the team - Such a loyal guy, I think he should be honored with a managerial position -something like assistant scout for the second team.

[robdog 2,084]

Andre, Andre what's the Score The main thing that I will remember the most from this match is Mata's performance, when the going got tuff & the away support that we had. I could totally hear them on my espn feed. Loving to see a win over spudz @ 3 point lane...Just loving it BTW after that comeback, is it too late to use the words Invincible & Chelsea Football Club in the same sentence? I mean spudz were totally all over us when it was 2-1 in their favor. 3 point lane was rocking, then a moment of HazMat changed all that w/in seconds. I am really starting to believe in this team. It's performances like that help me sleep at night.

[SeB 1,281]

Wouldn't say our defence have been watertight either. Norwich caused several us problems defensively and created some good chances last week. Then yesterday, there were some poor marking from set pieces as well as our failure to prevent crosses coming into our own penalty box. Really need to sort that out ASAP.

I agree on one point: the set piece defending. Allow crosses considering Walker, Lennon or Vertonghen poor crossing delivery is actually a good decision because Cahill and Luiz (especially the latter) were very good to clear that kind of dangerous ball into the box. If you watch WBA at times that's basically their tactic: be organised and congestioned through the axis, let the opponent use the flanks and cross considering Olsson clears about everything which comes close to him in the air

We've a zonal marking system on set pieces, Terry really lacks when he's not there to organise the defense and position the players...

I watched the game yesterday evening and I tweeted several screenshots of the game.

On the 2nd free kick of the game, Torres is surprisingly leading the instructions for the positioning

Here's Gallas goal: nobody keeps an eye on Vertonghen at the far post, plus Gallas and Caulker are in between Cahill and Luiz

This one is about Torres' chance on the break, here's where he starts his run from ; explains the poor last touch

Otherwise, on some individuals:

Luiz was very good defensively, he seems to be in a good moment. The only think I hope is that it won't last 10 weeks before another swing like the Kondratiev wave. I though he was excellent against Dempsey who tried to lay off the ball on aerial clearances, Luiz came out at the right time, won his challenges and did not concede a stupid free kick by elbowing him.

Mikel had an usual game, he was reliable as always. I hope that people still thinking he never goes forward or plays creative saw how he perfectly fits into that centre midfield role. When he passed the ball, he didn't move to drop behind the ball everytime, he also asked ahead of the ball to create triangles. I didn't manage to find a clear screen shot of it though.

Cahill's goal comes from a corner that has been won shortly after a creative pass from Mikel to Mata by the way.

Torres had an excellent game, not only he made a lot of runs forward, some to ask the ball or some to free space for his team mates. But this time he didn't had any waste in his play, his link up play was good, on the ball he was accurate

[CHOULO19 24,332]

We've a zonal marking system on set pieces, Terry really lacks when he's not there to organise the defense and position the players...

Call me old-fashioned but I never liked zonal marking. It often fails and it's always nobody's fault when it does. It is simple for me, get a player marking every opponent with your best defenders marking their best headers. If someone scores then it's his marker's fault.

[TorontoChelsea 4,064]

Mikel had an usual game, he was reliable as always. I hope that people still thinking he never goes forward or plays creative saw how he perfectly fits into that centre midfield role. When he passed the ball, he didn't move to drop behind the ball everytime, he also asked ahead of the ball to create triangles. I didn't manage to find a clear screen shot of it though.

Cahill's goal comes from a corner that has been won shortly after a creative pass from Mikel to Mata by the way.

I actually though Mikel's second half was below his usual high standard. In the first half, our defensive play was excellent. In particular I loved the way we kept forcing Dempsy back, turning their fast breaks into nothing, but in the second half, we gave Spurs way too many opportunities to score. This was a severely weakened Spurs side and they had 26 attempts at goal including a lot of very good opportunities. I am not blaming this all on Mikel by any stretch of the imagination, but our defensive problems went beyond just set-pieces and one 10 minute period. There were a few plays late in the game where Spurs players seemed to just cut through us and get the ball into dangerous areas easily. There was one just awful play by our double pivot when we were up 3-2 and Lennon just carried the ball past Ramires and Mikel into a dangerous position. Thought Ramires had one of the best halves I've seen from him this season in the first half but was very poor in the second half.