PLAYER RATINGS: Chelsea 3:0 Spurs

Spurs continued their torrid run of results at Stamford Bridge this evening as Chelsea cruised to a 3-0 victory over Pochettino’s young side.

Spurs fielded 3 academy graduates for the second game in a row as Ryan Mason and Nabil Bentaleb were again the midfield tandem after their Everton successes. However it was Harry Kane who got off to the brightest start, crashing a header off Thibaut Courtois’ crossbar in the opening 15 minutes.

After Spurs’ early domination Chelsea found their feet, and soon had the game under wraps as Eden Hazard’s quick feet saw him past Vlad Chiriches before firing past Hugo Lloris.

Next up was Didier Drogba who continued his scoring record against Spurs after Lloris’ scuffed kick had only found Oscar.

Mourinho’s side turned on cruise control for the remainder of the game as Spurs probed in vain for an opening in the Blues defence, before substitute Loic Remy turned Jan Vertonghen inside out to finish the game for good.

Player Ratings

Hugo Lloris - 4 – Not the best day the Frenchman has ever had. Let Hazard beat him from an improbable angle before his miskick allowed Drogba to kill the game with a second.

Vlad Chiriches - 5 – Understandably struggled with the threat of Eden Hazard but was left exposed by Spurs’ midfield at times. Certainly an inconsistent player and not exactly confidence-building at right-back.

Federico Fazio - 5 – Also struggled with Chelsea’s speed and agility. Was a strong physical presence which was helpful when it came to Drogba, but isn’t exactly a ball-playing defender.

Jan Vertonghen - 5 – A poor one considering Jan’s stormer at the weekend. Lost Drogba for the second and was left on his backside when Remy turned in the 3rd. Forget this one, Jan.

Ben Davies - 6 – I don’t think Ben had a bad game at left-back and kept Willian largely quiet, certainly coping with Hazard better than Vlad. Not bad delivery-wise but wasn’t exactly spoilt for targets.

Ryan Mason - 6 – The signs are there for the academy prospects. Mason looked at home in the first half and got forward well during our golden 15 minutes. Subbed too early in my opinion.

Nabil Bentaleb - 6 – My Man of the Match. Nabil was our most disciplined player today and was instrumental in anything we did going forward. A huge, huge player for the future, Bentaleb made the most passes of anybody on the pitch including Cesc Fabregas.

Erik Lamela - 5 – Another largely lightweight performance from Lamela who also saw himself subbed early on. The improvement is certainly there but he isn’t winning any fans over at the moment, and is definitely guilty of grossly overplaying.

Christian Eriksen - 6 – Got hold of the ball the best he could and was also fantastic in the first quarter of an hour. Faded throughout the game as Chelsea sat deeper and space disappeared, and was also guilty of skipping defensive duties.

Aaron Lennon - 5 – Was unable to provide the width in his time on the pitch that was so blatantly lacking. That was what make him so effective in the past two games.

Harry Kane - 6 – Came so so close to putting Spurs 2-0 to the good in the first half but saw two efforts miss agonisingly, once via the crossbar. Chelsea quickly wised up to the threat and by the time Kane could count to 10 Chelsea were 2 to the good and had 6 men in defence.

SUBS

Paulinho - 5 – This was a weird substitution. I understand the idea was that Paulinho was to provide the energy that the game lacked in the closing half an hour but he really didn’t provide anything the Mason didn’t already.

Nacer Chadli - 5 – Took over from Lamela in the missing midfielder role.

Roberto Soldado - N/a – Has to start against Palace. End of.

Let’s face it, nine of us really expected to get a result at Stamford Bridge. If there was one game that we were nailed on to lose it was this one.

But Spurs were up to their usual tricks and the opening 15 minutes gave us hope, before the next 5 destroyed it again.

On the positive side, all 3 academy prospects were amongst our best tonight, and the Pochettino philosophy is showing signs. Plus, Spurs have now got away clashes at The Emirates, Etihad and Stamford Bridge out of the way.

Bring on Palace.

 

It's not all doom n gloom. I think an ok performance. Two bad goals to concede but the overhaul display was ok imo. Walker needs to come back quick as we are struggling at RB. The young players played well again today especially Bentaleb but who being honest expected us to get anything from this game. Lamela is a growing concern for me as I think he's too lightweight and gives the ball away far too often. Poch's way is now showing and we must remain patient and hope 2/3 of his own players are purchased in the January window. Time to forget this result and bring on Palace! COYS

 

Ponchos plilosophy's showing sign of what,not having a clue perhaps, thats all I can see .We have been 10th,12th 8th and back to 10th under the twit, we sack a reasonable manager and replace him with a right twonk.Supporting Spurs gets harder every week.

 

Plenty of positives to take despite the disappointing result, I thought. Spurs were EXCELLENT for the first 20mins of the first half and were unfortunate not to go ahead.

I say 'unfortunate', but the truth is Spurs simply weren't clinical enough against one of the EPL elite, and at that level, not taking your opportunities is a punishable offence as we have found out to our detriment in the past (i.e Man City).

Missing chances at the very highest level is the ONLY concern that I have had over Harry Kanes game. And although I thought the youngster was SUPERB again, today, in his general play, he did little to change my thinking that against the best GK/Def's in the world, where you may only get 1/2 (good) chances in a match, that he is NOT composed/clinical enough to be to REALLY make the difference...and may never be.

Hey, this is NOT a bash Harry campaign. Like I said, I thought the kid was extremely impressive tonight...It's just a considered football observation, taken from considered research and analysis, from a football man!

The 1st two goals Spurs gave away tonight were VERY soft, with Lloris, Lennon and Chiriches almost guaranteed to endure a restless night when they close their eyes to sleep.

Spurs went from being the more threatening of the two teams, to being 2-0 down in in the space of 5 mins and although that was to Chelsea's credit in the way they ruthlessly took what few chances fell their way in the 1st half, Tottenham were most generous in presenting them those opportunities.

Lennon once again proves my point about stats, as Kane could only put his gorgeously delivered cross against the woodwork. Like I've said in the past, Lennon is the most unfortunate man in Spurs history in terms of acquiring assists...largely due to players not putting the final touches on all of his good work.

Aaron could EASILY have 3 assists in 3 games (at least) but as things stand he has had to make do with just the one (a beautifully weighted pass to Soldado in the game on the weekend)

Lenny's form has definitely been a big positive for Pochettinos side in recent games. As has the form of Kane, Bentelab and Mason.

Listen, Spurs were beaten tonight by one of the top 5 teams in Europe, at the moment. There is no shame in that! Tottenham played some wonderful football at times tonight. They followed an ever evolving blueprint, worked as a cohesive unit (for the mist part) and fought until the very end.

What the side need, is to take and hold a lead for 15-20 mins against one of the big teams. They also need to eliminate the clumsy trait in their game that always seems apparent when they compete in these matches against the top sides.

There was no capitulation at the Bridge, but judging by the events that occurred in the first half of the match, their might be one or two regrets on the training field, come tomorrow afternoon...

ON TO THE NEXT ONE!!!!

 

Chelsea are one of the best four teams in Europe ! Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern and Chelski ! Its about money i guess ! We gave it a go. The player rateings are low but its because of the opposition, give credit to their players. We are Tottenham ! Kane grows with every game and the other academy boy are giving their all too. We wont play teams of this calibre every game. Back Poch, hes the guy in control now ! Coys

 

One of those where u wipe your chin live learn and move on! Some strange selections really and poch and spurs trying to run before they can walk in making tactical changes against a master tactician and a well drilled outfit. In hindsight probably should have gone with an unchanged 11 and system and built on last SATs performance. Coys!

 

This is definitely a game we need to forget and move on. However we really need to do better at set pieces, corners and free kicks. Here we must do better against teams like this. Top load all the tall lads in the box and have a scale going back to defence tall to short like this / . (The goal is to right of the line drawn / ). For these set pieces; so in essence, Lennon would be defining with say Davies. And if its a short one to get a better angle cross. FFS get the ball in. (One caveat, perhaps knock one into Lemela on the deck if he's not taking it and see if he can win a pen).

But in essence, Palace home, Swansea Away, Newcastle Home then Burnley, thats 9 or 10 points for me. But heres a couple of corners that spring to mind.

The near post corner pull back


The front post flick on (0:40)


The Carlos lol


(It might be worth replicating the physical corners of these away team's grounds as they don't appear to be standard or flat as see this great piece from Nevin see 1:57)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/29634200

 

We are much improved going forward even though still not consistently clinical enough especially against the top teams. However, we are too inconsistent at the back. Hence, our results are unbalanced...the future is bright though if we can put our faith in the academy youngSTARS because they are...lastly, we are sorely lacking a fueld general and my fear is that the academy youngsters show the most leadersjip qualities than any other players!

 

The fact our academy players show the most heart and leadership just shows how naff our transfer buisness has been.
There has been an improvement in our play, but we lack quality in attack and our defending is a joke.
Chavs beat us at a canter in the end because were weak.
This is going to pan out another season of nothing, talking a good game, touting patience but ultimately folding at every opportunity.
The team needs a cash injection to buy some solid reliable players not this bloated squad of nobodies weve aquired.

 

We played very well for the first twenty minutes and someone the football was superb. Quick, incisive , yet just lacking that final touch.
Kane's work rate is phenomenal but he must learn to look for team mates when they are in better positions. He knows he is currently a real fans favourite, but he must not try to do everything himself. He is still very young, so there is plenty of time to further nurture what is a raw talent.
There were signs again of the high pressing game but we lost against the best team in the league by a country mile and there is no shame in that, but there was naivety in the performance.
Fazio is looking stronger and more composed each game and Kaboul can now safely 'jog on.'

Lloris had probably his worst game in a Spurs shirt sadly. His poor kick let him down and he should not have been beaten at his near post, but he will still gain us more points than lose us throughout the season.

There was only one thing that I found baffling last night and that was the selection of Lamela. Firstly, dropping Soldado after he had scored on Sunday was questionable. We have seen this happen before and the fact he was not even brought on must have left him questioning his value at the club. His confidence will have been sky high and he must now start against Palace.
As for lamela, I am out of patience with this lad. He constantly tries to over complicate things rather than doing the simple things. His shooting is poor, his ball control is also poor and the manager showed naivety in playing someone who adds nothing to this team.

That said, Pochettino's style is at long last taking shape and we now have a series of winnable games coming up which could easily see us sitting in the top four by the end of the festive period.

We need to do business in January, without a doubt. I expect that Poch will try and bring in some of his own choices and Use the second half of the season to really put his mark on the team.

All in all, not the worst performance, lots of naivety, but encouraging signs that the manager is getting to Gris with his team. Bring on Palace and no Lamela please.

COYS!!

 

With every game we play we become better and the last 2 games showed how Pochettino wants to play. What i dont understand is why not earlier but is beyond our judgement because we are not at the training ground every day. I think now it shows we have a plan on the pitch and it shows. Hopefully the defense will get things together and when walker comes back i can see a solid back 4 (Walker,Fazio,Jan,Davies).
Paul Mitchell will have a lot of work to do this transfer window. It shows that we were buying players because they were performing well to their previous teams (which is wrong judgement) instead of buying players that will fit instantly to the philosophy of the team (correct judgement).
COYS

 

Couldn't agree more, although bringing on Paulinho was also baffling, so effectively we played with 10 men the whole game.
Having Lamela and Erikson on the pitch together is a luxury we cannot afford and I do not think anyone would choose the former.
Not many might agree but I thought we played better last night than against QPR, only our opposition was much superior.

 

We played quite well and looked very good on the ball but Chelsea are a well drilled and disciplined team and made their chances count when we made those errors. Agree with others that this was a game that we played ok and lost. move on to palace and try to keep the team playing positive football. The truth is that we have been much better in the last few games and are starting to look more organised with some width and quick play. I thought that Kane was outstanding and easily our best player but looked like he was trying to make something happen all by himself, getting better and better every game, unlucky not to get the early goal. Wasn't too sure about Benteleb but credit where due, he also had a good game. At the end of the day it all came down to a few mistakes against the best team in the league.

 

Id rather have lamela having shots and getting involved than one cross do nothing for the other 60 minutes useless lennon.

 

60% possession and only 2 shots on target. All 3 goals were basic defensive errors. Chelsea parked their billion £ bus and only got out to relieve themselves between our goal posts whilst we predictably passed it round in our own half them kicked the ball straight through the middle. Positives? the youngsters acquitted themselves well but the side lacks pace upfront and in defence.

 

Have to say, I like the thought that's gone into that! I agree that Spurs would be better served by buying players that fit into a predetermined playing style/system, rather than just splashing cash on the next big thing or reliable/good EPL performers (i.e Dempsey).

The only thing I would say about that, is that until now, I don't think we have had a CLEARLY DEFINED blueprint from which to work from!

I think the transfer window will be very interesting in that respect both in terms of in-comings transfers and outgoings.

Taking into consideration Pochettino philosophy, players such as the HUGELY talented Dembele could find themselves surplus to requirements based upon their skill-set not being clearly compatible with the Argentines playing style.

We saw something similar happen only in the summer with the departure of every Spurs supporters favourite midfield dogsbody, Sandro.

Personally, I would find it very difficult to watch Dembele leave WHL, especially to a rival club, as I believe the Belgian has enough talent/ability to be the cornerstone of this Spurs team, given the opportunity and encouragement to do so.

However, with that being said, my belief in Pochettino is such that I would be prepared to back almost every/any decision he makes in the transfer window with the view that this is a man who knows what he doing.

The Argentine is a man who craves success, and is willing to be as ruthless as he deems necessary in order to get it.

Back to matters on the field, though, and I think the game on the weekend provides this Spurs team with an EQUALLY significant examination as the game against Chelsea (if not more).

Spurs have struggled thus far, this season, to impose their will upon teams they have been expected to beat at WHL and the game on Saturday will throw up a number of questions this side has yet to answer.

Listen, it's EASY to be motivated, concentrated and run around a million miles per hour against the likes of Everton/ Chelsea, every so often, when you feel that doing these things will give you the edge in what you perceive will be a tightly contested contested where small margins can be the big difference.

But it is how the players apply themselves in the games where they themselves will believe that they are ALREADY the superior side, that will tell us more about just how well this set of players are adjusting to MP's methods.

The match on the weekend will also be Spurs' 3rd game in the space of a week, which will also throw up questions about rotation.

Do you rotate a team that seems to be finally getting to grips with what is being demanded by them?

Or do you stick with the same side that has been doing well, at the risk of some of the players not being at 100% sharpness (especially on the back of a defeat)?

The impressive Bentelab, for example, has ONLY just returned from a lengthy injury lay-off to play in 2 and a bit games in the space of a week. In those game the Algerian International must of covered a considerable amount of ground, and despite being a 'naturally' fit guy, might just be beginning to feel the pace.

Is this the perfect opportunity to recall the likes of Capoue/ Dembele in place of one of the teams best performers in recent matches?

After all, the Xmas period is nearly upon us and Mauricio WILL need to start his preparation in earnest, in terms of team selection/rotation, if Spurs are to come through that busy period fresh faced, bushy tailed and ready for the challenges that await in the new year.

What has been forgotten in recent games is that Spurs have been without the likes of Rose, Adebayor, Townsend, Capoue, Kaboul and Walker. Getting those players fit and firing WILL have a major bearing on how well the club does as we approach the 2nd half of the season.

 

What a great think... and What did Lamela from 1st match in PL? ? Nothing or approximately Nothing...

 

The reason we have forgotten Adebayor and Kaboul is because they are better forgotten. You have rightly said that Poch is ruthless and I hope that both of these are moved on in the January transfer window.
Adebayor is on high wages in return for little effort and we have looked better at the back without Kaboul who will do very well where he belongs. In the championship.

 

With January looming we will see just how ruthless Poch can be. There are more than a few surplus players that just don't fit the system or don't have the right attitude to the managers training and demands, Dembele seems to be one of those players especially with the emergence of Capoue, Mason and Benteleb all of whom have more pace and or distribution than Moussa. He along with a few others have probably gone as far as they can go in a Spurs shirt, if not in jan then at the end of season.

 

Look, I'm NOT going to sit here and say that Kaboul has shown the kind of form that I expect from a player with his skill-set/attributes. Since returning from injury Younes has been a show of the player that I remember and more often than not less than convincing!

At his best, the Frenchman is strong, quick and assured. The Younes I remember was classy, elegant and yet aggressive. He has ALWAYS been a good talker, who, when confident, leads the back line with aplomb.

Kaboul, for me, has always had something a little special about him as a player. If I was designing a CB and assigning him physical attributes Younes Kaboul would be the prototype.

And whilst his form this season has generally been below-par, his WONDERFUL display at the home of our North London neighbours leaves me full of belief that Younes CAN rediscover his best form in a Spurs shirt and prove a massive plus point in the remainder of the season.

I've said it before, but when I look at the CB, I DON'T see a player who has lost his legs (to the extent that he can no longer compete at this level). Nor do I see someone that has become physically vulnerable to the demands of the worlds most rigorous league.

What I do see is a player that has seemingly become unsure of himself. His anticipation, positioning and decision-making have been the areas where he has struggled the most, and for a man who HAS shown in the past he possesses all of those attributes (as he did against Arsenal) I honestly believe the Frenchman is suffering from a lack of confidence rather than any, necessarily, permanent/terminal decline in him as a player.

Concentration is a massive part of a defenders game, and the amount of ('unforced') misplaced passes, clumsy/flimsy challenges and sliced clearances Younes has been guilty of thus far, this season, leads me to believe that this is also an issue for the Frenchman.

There is no question that Kaboul should NOT be in the side on current form, but he should NOT be discarded on the basis that he is not on form.

There is a tendency on behalf of a large section of the common/modern football fan to want rid of someone the moment they show any (reasonably prolonged) frailties/ flaws in their make-up.

Your NOT allowed to have 'a bad run' anymore, and if you have a bad season,well, more often than not your finished!

Adebayor has show that he is capable of being a force during his time at this club and the fans loved him. As recently as last season the fans were saluting Ade with glee as he embarked upon a impressive record of goal-scoring form.

What happens the minute the guy suffers a loss of form due or dip in confidence? People want him exiled!

Look, I'm not saying these players would have featured in MY Spurs squad for this season (more-so in Ade's case) but they are still at the club, and I genuinely believe that they can be good contributors until a time where they have left Spurs.