closed Chelsea 0-0 Spurs

[Vesper 28,856]

Kante and Silva the key to Chelsea stopping Kane in his new, deeper role

https://theathletic.com/2220981/2020/11/25/chelsea-kante-harry-kane/

“The problem with Harry Kane,” begins former West Bromwich Albion defender Gareth McAuley, pondering the Premier League’s most burning question right now, “is that he scores all types of goals. He can finish with his left foot, right foot, he can score headers, he can score from inside the box or outside the box. He poses a massive scoring threat, and this season he’s dropping into that No 10 position where he can get shots off from the edge of the box. How do you counteract that?”

Frank Lampard’s days leading up to Chelsea’s clash with Tottenham at Stamford Bridge on Sunday will be dominated by the challenge of dealing with the unique problems Kane is likely to cause. His tally of seven goals in nine Premier League matches this season may be bolstered by two penalties, but his non-penalty expected goals (NPxG) rating per 90 minutes of 0.5 is his highest average since 2017-18, when he scored a career-best 28 non-penalty goals in 37 league appearances.

The even more worrying thing for Lampard is that Kane isn’t even Tottenham’s top scorer this season. That title belongs to Son Heung-min, who has scored nine goals in nine league appearances against an expected goals (xG) rating of just 3.9. The two men have forged the most productive and dangerous active attacking partnership in the Premier League era, and Son’s talent for attacking the space behind opposition defences has unlocked the creative capabilities that Kane always insisted were a big part of his skill set.

Kane also has nine assists from his first nine Premier League matches, seven of which have been for Son goals. The pair combined to utterly destroy Southampton’s high defensive line in a 5-2 win for Tottenham at St Mary’s in September, as well as picking apart Manchester United and Burnley away from home. No player in Europe’s big five leagues has been directly involved in more goals this season than Tottenham’s talismanic striker who, increasingly, profiles as an elite No 10 as well as a deadly No 9.

An expected assists rating per 90 minutes (xA90) of 0.43 marks out Kane as more than twice as creative as in any of his previous three Tottenham seasons. He is touching the ball 10 more times and attempting six more passes per 90 minutes on average than in 2019-20, and they are generally occurring in deeper positions. The most startling example is the Southampton win in September, when he touched the ball just once in the opposition penalty area while registering four assists for Son.

    Harry Kane touch map vs Southampton

 

How do you deal with this as a central defender? McAuley, who faced Kane many times during his Premier League career with West Brom, admits there are no easy solutions. “It suits Harry’s game because he’s a clever player,” he adds. “When he’s coming off the (defensive) line and players are running past him, you can’t go with him. That’s where your communication comes into play with your central midfield players, getting people around you. As a defender you’re thinking about the threat behind you, that slipped pass to the runner. He’s also got the vision to slide the likes of Son through when he finds those pockets of space on the half-turn.

“When we did it as a four (at West Brom), we tried to box off the central area with two midfielders (in front of the two centre-backs). We wanted to force teams to play wide, especially the bigger teams. Chelsea have top defenders who will fancy themselves, but they can’t do it as individuals. It has to be as a unit. Our particular way would be to keep it tight and narrow, force them wide and bet on our strengths to deal with crosses. Chelsea will probably approach it differently, but he scores the majority of his goals from the middle of the box, so they’ll have to get it right in that area.

“The defensive unit and the sitting midfielder will have to deal with his movement, as well as the clever positional rotations that Tottenham have when they attack. For me, communication — passing on players and information quickly and early — is the best way to combat it. One lapse of concentration against Kane right now and he’s either scoring or assisting a goal.”

Chelsea have found impressive defensive stability in recent weeks, following Lampard’s shift to an expansive 4-3-3 system with N’Golo Kante at the midfield base, making full use of his positional intelligence, elite anticipation and speed to snuff out opposition attacks before they can gather momentum. On the occasions when Kane drifts deeper it will be into the Frenchman’s sphere of influence, and the outcome of that particular contest could end up having a big impact on the result at Stamford Bridge.

But the organisation of Chelsea’s defensive unit as a whole will fall to Thiago Silva, whose impact and influence since arriving on a free transfer from Paris Saint-Germain in August has been monumental. “He reads the game so well and puts himself in position,” McAuley says of Silva. “All that top-level experience informs his decisions, and his decision-making will be massively important (against Kane and Tottenham). But he’ll need the players around him as well.

“Kante covers so much ground in front of the defence, and he covers it quickly. It’s about killing that space. Zouma has recovery pace too, but he won’t be wanting to recover too much. He’ll want to use his speed to get up to the ball, to push out and keep the defensive line higher.”

Lampard could try to spring a tactical surprise and return Chelsea to 3-4-2-1, the formation Jose Mourinho belittled as “the system they played for two years with Antonio Conte” after watching his Tottenham team suffer the first of two Premier League defeats to their London rivals in 2019-20. But that would risk surrendering the confidence his players have built up in 4-3-3 over recent weeks, while Spurs — and Kane — are also playing very differently this season.

McAuley’s scepticism that such a change would be effective springs from personal experience. “We tried to do it with a back three with West Brom once at White Hart Lane and he (Kane) got a hat-trick. We changed to try to defend with a back three, mainly because of his goal threat, and we got hammered on the day (losing 4-0).

“How do you do it tactically? I don’t know. You do need a massive game from your central defenders in terms of their positioning, blocking shots, organising, talking to the midfielders in front of them — particularly when he drops off and isn’t playing up against them. It’s a big challenge in terms of concentration and communication, and he’s in great form right now.”

Chelsea can only look at nullifying the threat of Kane — and, by extension, Son — as a collective challenge at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. If they manage to keep both off the scoresheet, it will only add to Edouard Mendy’s burgeoning reputation and constitute one of the most impressive defensive achievements of the Lampard era. If they fail, they can at least console themselves with the fact that so has pretty much everyone else who has faced Tottenham so far this season.

[ZAPHOD2319 4,487]

 

[Atomiswave 6,072]

10 hours ago, King Kante said:

Bale, Sanchez and Ndombele will probably start, but yeah would've been better if Kane and Son were in the line-up too. 

Yes most likely but I highly doubt he will start with Bale.

[Jase 43,479]

Havertz also available after playing some minutes at Rennes.

[Jase 43,479]

7 minutes ago, Jason said:

Havertz also available after playing some minutes at Rennes.

 

[NikkiCFC 7,955]

 

[Blue Armour 4,290]

16 hours ago, ZAPHOD2319 said:

 

 

Hmm...26th, and then a game again on the 28th?

I remember it being always crazy this time of year, but having just a 1 day gap between games? Seems a bit much.

[Blue Armour 4,290]

17 hours ago, Vesper said:

Kante and Silva the key to Chelsea stopping Kane in his new, deeper role

https://theathletic.com/2220981/2020/11/25/chelsea-kante-harry-kane/

“The problem with Harry Kane,” begins former West Bromwich Albion defender Gareth McAuley, pondering the Premier League’s most burning question right now, “is that he scores all types of goals. He can finish with his left foot, right foot, he can score headers, he can score from inside the box or outside the box. He poses a massive scoring threat, and this season he’s dropping into that No 10 position where he can get shots off from the edge of the box. How do you counteract that?”

Frank Lampard’s days leading up to Chelsea’s clash with Tottenham at Stamford Bridge on Sunday will be dominated by the challenge of dealing with the unique problems Kane is likely to cause. His tally of seven goals in nine Premier League matches this season may be bolstered by two penalties, but his non-penalty expected goals (NPxG) rating per 90 minutes of 0.5 is his highest average since 2017-18, when he scored a career-best 28 non-penalty goals in 37 league appearances.

The even more worrying thing for Lampard is that Kane isn’t even Tottenham’s top scorer this season. That title belongs to Son Heung-min, who has scored nine goals in nine league appearances against an expected goals (xG) rating of just 3.9. The two men have forged the most productive and dangerous active attacking partnership in the Premier League era, and Son’s talent for attacking the space behind opposition defences has unlocked the creative capabilities that Kane always insisted were a big part of his skill set.

Kane also has nine assists from his first nine Premier League matches, seven of which have been for Son goals. The pair combined to utterly destroy Southampton’s high defensive line in a 5-2 win for Tottenham at St Mary’s in September, as well as picking apart Manchester United and Burnley away from home. No player in Europe’s big five leagues has been directly involved in more goals this season than Tottenham’s talismanic striker who, increasingly, profiles as an elite No 10 as well as a deadly No 9.

An expected assists rating per 90 minutes (xA90) of 0.43 marks out Kane as more than twice as creative as in any of his previous three Tottenham seasons. He is touching the ball 10 more times and attempting six more passes per 90 minutes on average than in 2019-20, and they are generally occurring in deeper positions. The most startling example is the Southampton win in September, when he touched the ball just once in the opposition penalty area while registering four assists for Son.

    Harry Kane touch map vs Southampton

 

How do you deal with this as a central defender? McAuley, who faced Kane many times during his Premier League career with West Brom, admits there are no easy solutions. “It suits Harry’s game because he’s a clever player,” he adds. “When he’s coming off the (defensive) line and players are running past him, you can’t go with him. That’s where your communication comes into play with your central midfield players, getting people around you. As a defender you’re thinking about the threat behind you, that slipped pass to the runner. He’s also got the vision to slide the likes of Son through when he finds those pockets of space on the half-turn.

“When we did it as a four (at West Brom), we tried to box off the central area with two midfielders (in front of the two centre-backs). We wanted to force teams to play wide, especially the bigger teams. Chelsea have top defenders who will fancy themselves, but they can’t do it as individuals. It has to be as a unit. Our particular way would be to keep it tight and narrow, force them wide and bet on our strengths to deal with crosses. Chelsea will probably approach it differently, but he scores the majority of his goals from the middle of the box, so they’ll have to get it right in that area.

“The defensive unit and the sitting midfielder will have to deal with his movement, as well as the clever positional rotations that Tottenham have when they attack. For me, communication — passing on players and information quickly and early — is the best way to combat it. One lapse of concentration against Kane right now and he’s either scoring or assisting a goal.”

Chelsea have found impressive defensive stability in recent weeks, following Lampard’s shift to an expansive 4-3-3 system with N’Golo Kante at the midfield base, making full use of his positional intelligence, elite anticipation and speed to snuff out opposition attacks before they can gather momentum. On the occasions when Kane drifts deeper it will be into the Frenchman’s sphere of influence, and the outcome of that particular contest could end up having a big impact on the result at Stamford Bridge.

But the organisation of Chelsea’s defensive unit as a whole will fall to Thiago Silva, whose impact and influence since arriving on a free transfer from Paris Saint-Germain in August has been monumental. “He reads the game so well and puts himself in position,” McAuley says of Silva. “All that top-level experience informs his decisions, and his decision-making will be massively important (against Kane and Tottenham). But he’ll need the players around him as well.

“Kante covers so much ground in front of the defence, and he covers it quickly. It’s about killing that space. Zouma has recovery pace too, but he won’t be wanting to recover too much. He’ll want to use his speed to get up to the ball, to push out and keep the defensive line higher.”

Lampard could try to spring a tactical surprise and return Chelsea to 3-4-2-1, the formation Jose Mourinho belittled as “the system they played for two years with Antonio Conte” after watching his Tottenham team suffer the first of two Premier League defeats to their London rivals in 2019-20. But that would risk surrendering the confidence his players have built up in 4-3-3 over recent weeks, while Spurs — and Kane — are also playing very differently this season.

McAuley’s scepticism that such a change would be effective springs from personal experience. “We tried to do it with a back three with West Brom once at White Hart Lane and he (Kane) got a hat-trick. We changed to try to defend with a back three, mainly because of his goal threat, and we got hammered on the day (losing 4-0).

“How do you do it tactically? I don’t know. You do need a massive game from your central defenders in terms of their positioning, blocking shots, organising, talking to the midfielders in front of them — particularly when he drops off and isn’t playing up against them. It’s a big challenge in terms of concentration and communication, and he’s in great form right now.”

Chelsea can only look at nullifying the threat of Kane — and, by extension, Son — as a collective challenge at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. If they manage to keep both off the scoresheet, it will only add to Edouard Mendy’s burgeoning reputation and constitute one of the most impressive defensive achievements of the Lampard era. If they fail, they can at least console themselves with the fact that so has pretty much everyone else who has faced Tottenham so far this season.

Pretty much sums up my thoughts, Kante and 1 of the CB's will have to keep a leash on Kane, while the rest of the back four keeps an eye out for their runners.

 

[Atomiswave 6,072]

Eng media is fucking sickening, spurs will win the league, spurs have a world class squad, JM is back to his best, can Chelsea cope with Son and Kane, Can Chelsea handle the experience of spurs and on and on it goes. Sucking them off is more like it, giving them all the credit in the world. Man you just know the refs gonna screw us over on sunday.

[NikkiCFC 7,955]

17 hours ago, ZAPHOD2319 said:

 

It's nice that we don't leave London from December 15th to January 12th. 

[Stats 7,056]

7 hours ago, Jason said:

Havertz also available after playing some minutes at Rennes.

Wow. Who is going to drop out the 18 man squad is the question. All the outfield players are playing well. If CHO did not score against Rennes he may have been a culprit to drop out the squad like we have seen before. From the Newcastle game, I think Emerson and Christensen will drop out the squad. Silva and Havertz will come back in. Pulisic will come in for whoever does not start between Jorginho/Kovacic I reckon. Most likely Jorginho. Will be really interesting. Squad has so much depth and quality.

[Supermonkey92 1,428]

I like the idea of a back 3 specifically for spurs. They are the only English club i fear at the moment. Ziyech and werner buzzing around giroud sounds good to me. Keep silva in the middle, away from foot races and with the best view to organise the rest of the defence. Stick kante and kova in front to strangle the space for Kane.

Azpi silva zouma
James kante kova Chilwell

Ziyech werner
Giroud

Chilwell should provide enough width that werner can get in an around giroud, who is good enough to hold up the ball if we are shit going forward like against united.


If we do go 433 and win I'll be very impressed. As it stands I'm happy to play it safe and stick close to spurs. Our squad is better than there's an the europa league should accumulate fatigue worse than the CL.

Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

[blu35_army 551]

the only getting better,,we score much in 2nd half. with the quality of bench like Giroud, Pulisic and CHO,,tactical changes after break could be crucial from frank....

[Vesper 28,856]

Pressure is all on Chelsea and Lampard not Tottenham, says Mourinho

https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/pressure-chelsea-lampard-not-tottenham-223041713.html

For José Mourinho, the equation is simple. You manage at a big-spending club and there is pressure to win trophies. More than that, it is an obligation. The Tottenham manager has felt it himself previously, including at Chelsea, where he delivered three Premier League titles in his two spells in charge. As he said a few years ago, having left the club under a cloud the second time: “Judas is still No 1.” No other Chelsea manager has won the league more than once for them.

It is different at Spurs where a relatively low transfer spend equals less pressure, less expectation. Mourinho says he enjoyed his first summer window at the club, in which he leant on the chairman, Daniel Levy, to sanction a net spend of £56.2m, excluding loan fees. It brought seven players and greater balance and options. In this kind of project, Mourinho says, there is no margin for recruitment error.

Related: Frank Lampard says Abramovich changed his career at Chelsea

Which is all a roundabout way of Mourinho framing the psychologicals for Spurs’ visit to Chelsea on Sunday. At no point does he mention Frank Lampard or the fact his Chelsea counterpart oversaw a net spend of £152.4m in the most recent market. But it does not take a detective to decipher the message. The pressure has to be on Lampard to deliver. Never mind that Spurs enter the weekend on top of the table. They can punch on the counter, explode from the shadows.

“When you are favourites, you know why you are favourites,” Mourinho said, when asked about his previous title-winning teams in England and mainland Europe. “And you have to accept that and you have to deal with that kind of pressure and responsibility. I was at clubs which were, let’s say, champions in the market because of their powerful investments. I had to deal with that pressure. So now it’s not for me to deal with that pressure. It’s for others to deal with that pressure. That’s not for us.”

Mourinho was asked specifically as to whether he enjoyed the boot being on the other foot, in terms of having been at big-spending projects such as Chelsea. “Different experiences,” he replied. “What I felt is that when I was in these clubs, there was huge pressure on me and now there is not huge pressure on the coaches of these teams. Put a little bit of pressure on them and leave us in peace, doing our job.”

The situation is multi-layered, with Lampard entitled to point out that Chelsea were unable to make new signings in the summer of 2019, when he took over, because of a transfer ban. It was also the window when they sold Eden Hazard to Real Madrid for £88.5m, although they were able to turn Mateo Kovacic’s loan from Madrid into a permanent deal for £40m. Chelsea decided to add nobody last January, keeping their money in the bank for the summer. Spurs’ net spend last season was about £120m.

“If you look at the spending over the last couple of seasons – what Tottenham made in the summer I came to Chelsea and then what they have done in this break, compared to us, you will see it has been a very similar output,” Lampard said.

“The pressures are huge anyway. The pressures at Tottenham will be big because José has built a fantastic squad and has incredible players. We are both in the same position. I can’t jump into José’s mind and say exactly what he is thinking. When I do look at the idea of pressure, it is very normal that a manager would try to take pressure away and make comments about how much pressure is on or not.”

Mourinho ran through a few of Lampard’s defensive options and noted how he could start Édouard Mendy or “the most expensive goalkeeper in the history of the Premier League”. It was his way of highlighting how at a club such as Chelsea, Kepa Arrizabalaga – who cost £71.6m from Athletic Bilbao – could be left on the bench.

“It’s a different way of going into the market [at Spurs],” Mourinho said. “I’ve been at Chelsea before and I know the difference but I enjoyed very much to do this first market with Tottenham, to do that kind of wise market where, with less money, you try to give a good balance to the team, not to make mistakes, choose the right guys. I am really happy with what we got.”

Mourinho, who has won only one of six as a visiting manager to Stamford Bridge – with Internazionale in the 2010 Champions League last 16 – is determined to take it game by game. “We are not challenging for the title, we are challenging for the next match,” he said.

But, at the same time, he does not want his players to feel inferior to those at clubs who are considered to be season-long contenders. He wants to fire belief within the prism of lower expectations. “We are not underdogs,” Mourinho said. “For the next match, we are not underdogs. For every match, we are never underdogs. For every match, we try to win.”

Lampard said: “Where José says: ‘We are not really contenders, we have to look at the next game’ – I think that is the reality for Tottenham and for us because the last two or three seasons have Liverpool and Manchester City ahead of the rest. He is looking at the next game and that is exactly what I am doing.”

Related: Brave, intelligent Diego Maradona was a man who moved through different air

Lampard played for Chelsea under Mourinho and he was honest about how their relationship had changed. “We’re always very cordial,” he said. “We are in the cut-throat end of things in these big clubs that are rivals – it does change the relationship but not in a bad way.

“We’ve got no problem with it; I certainly haven’t. We are very competitive people. When I speak about José, I always show how much respect I have of him in all senses. I have always got that back from him – and that’s where it is.”

[communicate 2,703]

18 minutes ago, Vesper said:

Pressure is all on Chelsea and Lampard not Tottenham, says Mourinho

https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/pressure-chelsea-lampard-not-tottenham-223041713.html

For José Mourinho, the equation is simple. You manage at a big-spending club and there is pressure to win trophies. More than that, it is an obligation. The Tottenham manager has felt it himself previously, including at Chelsea, where he delivered three Premier League titles in his two spells in charge. As he said a few years ago, having left the club under a cloud the second time: “Judas is still No 1.” No other Chelsea manager has won the league more than once for them.

It is different at Spurs where a relatively low transfer spend equals less pressure, less expectation. Mourinho says he enjoyed his first summer window at the club, in which he leant on the chairman, Daniel Levy, to sanction a net spend of £56.2m, excluding loan fees. It brought seven players and greater balance and options. In this kind of project, Mourinho says, there is no margin for recruitment error.

Related: Frank Lampard says Abramovich changed his career at Chelsea

Which is all a roundabout way of Mourinho framing the psychologicals for Spurs’ visit to Chelsea on Sunday. At no point does he mention Frank Lampard or the fact his Chelsea counterpart oversaw a net spend of £152.4m in the most recent market. But it does not take a detective to decipher the message. The pressure has to be on Lampard to deliver. Never mind that Spurs enter the weekend on top of the table. They can punch on the counter, explode from the shadows.

“When you are favourites, you know why you are favourites,” Mourinho said, when asked about his previous title-winning teams in England and mainland Europe. “And you have to accept that and you have to deal with that kind of pressure and responsibility. I was at clubs which were, let’s say, champions in the market because of their powerful investments. I had to deal with that pressure. So now it’s not for me to deal with that pressure. It’s for others to deal with that pressure. That’s not for us.”

Mourinho was asked specifically as to whether he enjoyed the boot being on the other foot, in terms of having been at big-spending projects such as Chelsea. “Different experiences,” he replied. “What I felt is that when I was in these clubs, there was huge pressure on me and now there is not huge pressure on the coaches of these teams. Put a little bit of pressure on them and leave us in peace, doing our job.”

The situation is multi-layered, with Lampard entitled to point out that Chelsea were unable to make new signings in the summer of 2019, when he took over, because of a transfer ban. It was also the window when they sold Eden Hazard to Real Madrid for £88.5m, although they were able to turn Mateo Kovacic’s loan from Madrid into a permanent deal for £40m. Chelsea decided to add nobody last January, keeping their money in the bank for the summer. Spurs’ net spend last season was about £120m.

“If you look at the spending over the last couple of seasons – what Tottenham made in the summer I came to Chelsea and then what they have done in this break, compared to us, you will see it has been a very similar output,” Lampard said.

“The pressures are huge anyway. The pressures at Tottenham will be big because José has built a fantastic squad and has incredible players. We are both in the same position. I can’t jump into José’s mind and say exactly what he is thinking. When I do look at the idea of pressure, it is very normal that a manager would try to take pressure away and make comments about how much pressure is on or not.”

Mourinho ran through a few of Lampard’s defensive options and noted how he could start Édouard Mendy or “the most expensive goalkeeper in the history of the Premier League”. It was his way of highlighting how at a club such as Chelsea, Kepa Arrizabalaga – who cost £71.6m from Athletic Bilbao – could be left on the bench.

“It’s a different way of going into the market [at Spurs],” Mourinho said. “I’ve been at Chelsea before and I know the difference but I enjoyed very much to do this first market with Tottenham, to do that kind of wise market where, with less money, you try to give a good balance to the team, not to make mistakes, choose the right guys. I am really happy with what we got.”

Mourinho, who has won only one of six as a visiting manager to Stamford Bridge – with Internazionale in the 2010 Champions League last 16 – is determined to take it game by game. “We are not challenging for the title, we are challenging for the next match,” he said.

But, at the same time, he does not want his players to feel inferior to those at clubs who are considered to be season-long contenders. He wants to fire belief within the prism of lower expectations. “We are not underdogs,” Mourinho said. “For the next match, we are not underdogs. For every match, we are never underdogs. For every match, we try to win.”

Lampard said: “Where José says: ‘We are not really contenders, we have to look at the next game’ – I think that is the reality for Tottenham and for us because the last two or three seasons have Liverpool and Manchester City ahead of the rest. He is looking at the next game and that is exactly what I am doing.”

Related: Brave, intelligent Diego Maradona was a man who moved through different air

Lampard played for Chelsea under Mourinho and he was honest about how their relationship had changed. “We’re always very cordial,” he said. “We are in the cut-throat end of things in these big clubs that are rivals – it does change the relationship but not in a bad way.

“We’ve got no problem with it; I certainly haven’t. We are very competitive people. When I speak about José, I always show how much respect I have of him in all senses. I have always got that back from him – and that’s where it is.”

Tbh i love when manager talk shit and play mind game about us especially coming from contender, I freaking love it. It mean we are competing for title. 

 

[Special Juan 27,429]

I think Jose is jealous.

[Jase 43,479]

5 hours ago, Vesper said:

Pressure is all on Chelsea and Lampard not Tottenham, says Mourinho

https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/pressure-chelsea-lampard-not-tottenham-223041713.html

For José Mourinho, the equation is simple. You manage at a big-spending club and there is pressure to win trophies. More than that, it is an obligation. The Tottenham manager has felt it himself previously, including at Chelsea, where he delivered three Premier League titles in his two spells in charge. As he said a few years ago, having left the club under a cloud the second time: “Judas is still No 1.” No other Chelsea manager has won the league more than once for them.

It is different at Spurs where a relatively low transfer spend equals less pressure, less expectation. Mourinho says he enjoyed his first summer window at the club, in which he leant on the chairman, Daniel Levy, to sanction a net spend of £56.2m, excluding loan fees. It brought seven players and greater balance and options. In this kind of project, Mourinho says, there is no margin for recruitment error.

Related: Frank Lampard says Abramovich changed his career at Chelsea

Which is all a roundabout way of Mourinho framing the psychologicals for Spurs’ visit to Chelsea on Sunday. At no point does he mention Frank Lampard or the fact his Chelsea counterpart oversaw a net spend of £152.4m in the most recent market. But it does not take a detective to decipher the message. The pressure has to be on Lampard to deliver. Never mind that Spurs enter the weekend on top of the table. They can punch on the counter, explode from the shadows.

“When you are favourites, you know why you are favourites,” Mourinho said, when asked about his previous title-winning teams in England and mainland Europe. “And you have to accept that and you have to deal with that kind of pressure and responsibility. I was at clubs which were, let’s say, champions in the market because of their powerful investments. I had to deal with that pressure. So now it’s not for me to deal with that pressure. It’s for others to deal with that pressure. That’s not for us.”

Mourinho was asked specifically as to whether he enjoyed the boot being on the other foot, in terms of having been at big-spending projects such as Chelsea. “Different experiences,” he replied. “What I felt is that when I was in these clubs, there was huge pressure on me and now there is not huge pressure on the coaches of these teams. Put a little bit of pressure on them and leave us in peace, doing our job.”

The situation is multi-layered, with Lampard entitled to point out that Chelsea were unable to make new signings in the summer of 2019, when he took over, because of a transfer ban. It was also the window when they sold Eden Hazard to Real Madrid for £88.5m, although they were able to turn Mateo Kovacic’s loan from Madrid into a permanent deal for £40m. Chelsea decided to add nobody last January, keeping their money in the bank for the summer. Spurs’ net spend last season was about £120m.

“If you look at the spending over the last couple of seasons – what Tottenham made in the summer I came to Chelsea and then what they have done in this break, compared to us, you will see it has been a very similar output,” Lampard said.

“The pressures are huge anyway. The pressures at Tottenham will be big because José has built a fantastic squad and has incredible players. We are both in the same position. I can’t jump into José’s mind and say exactly what he is thinking. When I do look at the idea of pressure, it is very normal that a manager would try to take pressure away and make comments about how much pressure is on or not.”

Mourinho ran through a few of Lampard’s defensive options and noted how he could start Édouard Mendy or “the most expensive goalkeeper in the history of the Premier League”. It was his way of highlighting how at a club such as Chelsea, Kepa Arrizabalaga – who cost £71.6m from Athletic Bilbao – could be left on the bench.

“It’s a different way of going into the market [at Spurs],” Mourinho said. “I’ve been at Chelsea before and I know the difference but I enjoyed very much to do this first market with Tottenham, to do that kind of wise market where, with less money, you try to give a good balance to the team, not to make mistakes, choose the right guys. I am really happy with what we got.”

Mourinho, who has won only one of six as a visiting manager to Stamford Bridge – with Internazionale in the 2010 Champions League last 16 – is determined to take it game by game. “We are not challenging for the title, we are challenging for the next match,” he said.

But, at the same time, he does not want his players to feel inferior to those at clubs who are considered to be season-long contenders. He wants to fire belief within the prism of lower expectations. “We are not underdogs,” Mourinho said. “For the next match, we are not underdogs. For every match, we are never underdogs. For every match, we try to win.”

Lampard said: “Where José says: ‘We are not really contenders, we have to look at the next game’ – I think that is the reality for Tottenham and for us because the last two or three seasons have Liverpool and Manchester City ahead of the rest. He is looking at the next game and that is exactly what I am doing.”

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Lampard played for Chelsea under Mourinho and he was honest about how their relationship had changed. “We’re always very cordial,” he said. “We are in the cut-throat end of things in these big clubs that are rivals – it does change the relationship but not in a bad way.

“We’ve got no problem with it; I certainly haven’t. We are very competitive people. When I speak about José, I always show how much respect I have of him in all senses. I have always got that back from him – and that’s where it is.”

Mourinho pretending like Spurs haven't spent money themselves and that pressure won't be on them is hilarious. 

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2 hours ago, Jason said:

Mourinho pretending like Spurs haven't spent money themselves and that pressure won't be on them is hilarious. 

Yes, and the only bust they have spent on really is Gedson Fernandes and that was just an 18 month loan (so will not end up costing them that much), and I think they will terminate this January as he wants (so does his father, who has been very vocal) to go back and play for one of the Big Three in Portugal. Bit surprised he did not do better in the EPL, but Liga NOS players are a so often a crapshoot (which is why I was always wary of Gedsaon and then the one I was curious about even more, Florentino, the young DMF, who Manure wanted fairly badly).

Typical Mou head games, he has a REALLY strong team and yes, they spent money and he knows it. The only thing they are missing is a truly WC CB, and I expect them to try and grab one, as they are pretty fucking deep everywhere else TBH. I fucking hate Spuds more than any other team on the planet, BUT hats off to that cheap bastard Levy. They have a top 5 or so in the world brand new stadium, a legendary coach who has not worn out his welcome, and many really good players, plus two superstars.

My feeling is that there are 3 (unless Pep sorts Shitty) teams above the rest overall Victimpool, (despite no VVD and they will grab a CB in January, I can feel it, plus they soon get Thiago back, which I think is massive), Chels, and Spuds, at least atm.