Why the difference in performance between Chelsea & Spurs?

[Spijed]

Once we'd reached half time at 0-0 I expected us to show far more grit than we did in the second half, even after taking off Andre.

Looking at the Spurs players, with all due respect to them, I don't think they have anyone of the same calibre as Kante, Hazard or Costa. Even though we created little, I expected far better from our defence and midfield as we'd completely shut out Chelsea previously. Yet they opened us up far more easily than Chelsea ever did.

Why?

[Quickenthetempo]

Spurs played way better in the 2nd half than Chelsea did. Dembele played better than Kante, Eriksen and Alli played better than Hazard and Son was better than Costa in only a short spell.

Which footballers you like based on full seasons is your opinion but the games at the Turf you are way off. It could have a lot to do with the cold and bad pitch conditions for Chelsea and sunny with grass back on the pitch for Spurs.

[Spijed]

Spurs played way better in the 2nd half than Chelsea did. Dembele played better than Kante, Eriksen and Alli played better than Hazard and Son was better than Costa in only a short spell.

Which footballers you like based on full seasons is your opinion but the games at the Turf you are way off. It could have a lot to do with the cold and bad pitch conditions for Chelsea and sunny with grass back on the pitch for Spurs.

But in fairness, we played so well to stop the likes of Hazard, Kante, Costa etc. not just them having an off day. We even made Lukaku look poor for Everton. Yet we seem to stand off all the Spurs players for some reason.

[Quickenthetempo]

Spurs are just as good as Chelsea on their day, it's just Chelsea have been far more consistent for a longer time. It was proved with their easy win against Chelsea.

[Wile E Coyote]

we looked jaded second half, spurs had a lot of space and gaps were appearing regularly . They exploited it and it could have been worse.

Chelsea were matched because we never switched off for the whole game.

Maybe our style of play at home has to be so intense, its inevitable we will fade now and again.As long as we maintain the standars set before,we should get back into it. we'll need to.

[CombatClaret]

Mentally I think Chelsea; the champions elect, rolled up expecting to win with a mediocre performance.

Spurs are chasing and hungry, a few player stepping up their game to compensate for the loss of Kane.

[Saxoman]

Confidence has gone, you're in the poo.

[ewanrob]

Spurs the better team...by far. No disgrace loosing that one

[claretspice]

Firstly, i think Spurs are a pretty good match for Chelsea.

We actually matched both when they played 343, and the score over 135 minutes was 1-1.

Spurs then changed formation, had one less defender on the pitch overall as a result ( 2 centre backs and 2 holding players, not 3 and 2), and used the extra attacker to give themselves more width and more men in forward positions when they went forwards.

We did also lack a bit of belief on saturday, however. 2 months without a league win, plus the extra psychological impact of the Lincoln result, does that unfortunately. We need the crowd right with the boys on tuesday.

[Shore claret]

Spurs the better team...by far. No disgrace loosing that one

Completely agree, spurs by far the best team we've played at home this season.

[tim_noone]

I might be wrong but i got the impression we tried to compete with spurs yesterday in footballing terms as opposed to containing them like we did with chelsea arsenal and liverpool at home, that being the first half.with their injuries i thought we would get something from the game in the second half,but then we just kept giving it the big boot and giving them the ball back,hendrick gifted them a goal doing exactly that! That said nothing ventured nothing gained we were odds on to lose anyway. It will be back to basics on tuesday and hopefully defour and brady will play...I think to be fair to all our players they did their best against a very good side....the best team seen at turf moor this season.imo

[Mala591]

Also, Westwood had a very good game against Chelsea. Played ok at Hull too.

Time to give him another chance?

[Wokingclaret]

Can't be worse than Jeff at the moment

[Vegas Claret]

difference was us, we were way under the standards we set against Chelscum. Spurs didn't get out of first gear yesterday

[Bin Ont Turf]

The weather.

[boatshed bill]

What's happened to our two lines of four? Not much evidence of our disciplined defensive unit (off the highlights, admittedly)

[Wile E Coyote]

I might be wrong but i got the impression we tried to compete with spurs yesterday in footballing terms as opposed to containing them like we did with chelsea arsenal and liverpool at home, that being the first half.with their injuries i thought we would get something from the game in the second half,but then we just kept giving it the big boot and giving them the ball back,hendrick gifted them a goal doing exactly that! That said nothing ventured nothing gained we were odds on to lose anyway. It will be back to basics on tuesday and hopefully defour and brady will play...I think to be fair to all our players they did their best against a very good side....the best team seen at turf moor this season.imo

fair points,
I believe that we are literally running out of steam playing as we did before our enforced break from home games.
That tempo we managed against Liverpool here, and especially away at United has faded somewhat. We relied on that 100% work rate just to match their skill. If we lose that , we certainly do appear ordinary. When pundits complimented us earlier in the season,it was because we were strong and discliplined. Not certain whether we have kept at it quite so well.

[Spijed]

We need the crowd right with the boys on tuesday.

Even in the first half, it was quiet in comparison to other games this season.

[ewanrob]

Spurs were really a joy to watch, 1st time for a while where we have looked defensively inept...back to front .....hey ho that the PL for you

[Paul Waine]

Spurs played way better in the 2nd half than Chelsea did. Dembele played better than Kante, Eriksen and Alli played better than Hazard and Son was better than Costa in only a short spell.

Which footballers you like based on full seasons is your opinion but the games at the Turf you are way off. It could have a lot to do with the cold and bad pitch conditions for Chelsea and sunny with grass back on the pitch for Spurs.

I like the idea that the Lancashire weather had an impact on the Chelsea game - and maybe it did.

I think yesterday we suffered from" post-international week syndrome," whereas Spurs have more experience in this area and started with line-up that protected some of their players who'd been on international duty.

I'm still delighted for Michael Keane to have 2 England caps and for the additional Rep Ireland, Wales and Canada caps. It's all part of building. We won't win the league - or be relegated from one or two results.

[claretandy]

Their are numerous reasons, the weather against Chelsea, Spurs started with a weakened team with Dembele and Son on the bench, the Injuries helped them change the team and formation. The Gray substitution changed the game, we had no threat in behind so Spurs went to a back four and attacked us more.

[9thMay1987]

1, Spurs were the best side I have seen this season. They matched Burnley for battling qualities and finished us of with there extra skill in the last quarter. Their midfield always in space and intelligent passing. We were lucky Kane was injured.
2. They have a top manager/coach. I thought their injuries might distrupt them, but they have a squad where everyone is at ease and knows whats required.
3. Some of our players had , not for the first time, have lost focus being away during the international break.

[jlup1980]

Lincoln plus a run of away games has knocked us back a bit. I don't think we had the belief and we played more like we do away from home. We need to try to make things happen and not concentrate fully on just nullifying opponents. Stoke and Boro are huge games for me, absolutely massive. We need to take 3 points from one of them.

[Quickenthetempo]

I like the idea that the Lancashire weather had an impact on the Chelsea game - and maybe it did.

I think yesterday we suffered from" post-international week syndrome," whereas Spurs have more experience in this area and started with line-up that protected some of their players who'd been on international duty.

I'm still delighted for Michael Keane to have 2 England caps and for the additional Rep Ireland, Wales and Canada caps. It's all part of building. We won't win the league - or be relegated from one or two results.

If you see any pictures of Costa from that day it will convince you he simply didn't want to be here with his snood and gloves on.

But Dembele and Sissoko are as close as you will get to the great midfield partnership of Vieira and Petit. Physical and up and down the pitch easily. Saying that it was the well known tackler Eriksen that easily disposed of Barton to set up the 2nd goal.

[Paul Waine]

If you see any pictures of Costa from that day it will convince you he simply didn't want to be here with his snood and gloves on.

But Dembele and Sissoko are as close as you will get to the great midfield partnership of Vieira and Petit. Physical and up and down the pitch easily. Saying that it was the well known tackler Eriksen that easily disposed of Barton to set up the 2nd goal.

I watched the Chelsea game in a bar in Palma, Majorca. Even from there I could see the weather was cold and unwelcoming to some of the Chelsea team.

UTC

[quoonbeatz]

we're always crap after an international break.

[ClaretTony]

Once we'd reached half time at 0-0 I expected us to show far more grit than we did in the second half, even after taking off Andre.

Looking at the Spurs players, with all due respect to them, I don't think they have anyone of the same calibre as Kante, Hazard or Costa. Even though we created little, I expected far better from our defence and midfield as we'd completely shut out Chelsea previously. Yet they opened us up far more easily than Chelsea ever did.

Why?

There's your problem in a nutshell - in suggesting you expected far better when we are playing one of the best teams in the country. Some people need to get a touch of realism.

[RocketLawnChair]

There's your problem in a nutshell - in suggesting you expected far better when we are playing one of the best teams in the country. Some people need to get a touch of realism.

Whilst I agree perhaps some do need a touch of realism and Spurs are a bloody good side, it's the Lincoln Swansea and Sunderland games that have concerned me leading up to Saturday, as a squad we all of a sudden look shockingly low on form and confidence and probably at the worst time possible to boot.

[claretspice]

Whilst I agree perhaps some do need a touch of realism and Spurs are a bloody good side, it's the Lincoln Swansea and Sunderland games that have concerned me leading up to Saturday, as a squad we all of a sudden look shockingly low on form and confidence and probably at the worst time possible to boot.

I don't think it is the worst time in the season. The worst time for us to have had a bad run would have been before Christmas. If we had, we'd now find ourselves in the sort of position Boro are currently in. As it is, we're still in a relatively comfortable position - Hull still need 2 wins to get past us and their away form is as bad as ours (worse, recently, actually).

We are a decent side and I still think we'll be OK, and I'd like to think we can get to 40 points. But we aren't good enough to be expecting much more than that and Tony has a very fair point that just because we produced a performance against Chelsea of the highest order, its wrong to assume that can be replicated every week.

RocketLawnChair also has a point, mind, that the squad looked a touch low on confidence and belief on Saturday, and we need to rectify this fast. For part of the second half, there was a bit of a lack of intensity to our work that is very unlike us. Partly, that was a consequence of how well Spurs popped the ball about, partly, it was a consequence of the replacement of Gray that didn't work, but I think belief also played a part and the combined effect of 4 relatively fruitless away games coming on the back of a damaging defeat to Lincoln has left some scars that we need a bit of luck, plus a united crowd, to help us heal.

[Ashingtonclaret46]

One thing which has been concerning me since the Chelsea game is the lack of shots on target. In the PL matches since then we have had 57 shots and only 13 have been on target and 4 of those were in the match at Swansea.
The last three games against Liverpool, Sunderland and Spurs have seen 40 shots with only 6 on target. That, in my opinion, is nowhere near good enough.