The Tottenham Thread 13/14 (continued)

[Crouchinho]

I thought we were the better up until just under 60 minutes, then a mad two minute spell cost us. Vertonghen is normally very composed and great on the ball but I have no idea why he didn't kick that away towards the halfway line or just smack it away. As for the second the ref couldn't wait to give that penalty, you could argue all day if that's a dive or not, even with the red he couldn't wait to give that either. You could tell that with the way he booked Bentaleb for one of his first fouls but let Matic off the hook for a bad challenge.

I hope City or Liverpool stop them winning the title, Jose's mind games about wanting top 4 are ridiculous

 

[prestonibbo_mcfc]

I thought we were the better up until just under 60 minutes, then a mad two minute spell cost us. Vertonghen is normally very composed and great on the ball but I have no idea why he didn't kick that away towards the halfway line or just smack it away. As for the second the ref couldn't wait to give that penalty, you could argue all day if that's a dive or not, even with the red he couldn't wait to give that either. You could tell that with the way he booked Bentaleb for one of his first fouls but let Matic off the hook for a bad challenge.

I hope City or Liverpool stop them winning the title, Jose's mind games about wanting top 4 are ridiculous

Never a pen and thought with a bit more guile you could have got something from that.
But for me you have too many players that fail to deliver and have no cutting edge.

 

[Marvin]

Typical Chelsea. Don't make mistakes and when you have quality in your team you usually win

Thought Spurs were the better team for the first hour, but they played a high line at times which was a bit risky.

 

[Blue Haze]

They're basically fucked now. Bought a lot of players with the Bale money and are getting nothing for it.

Now Liverpool are a lock for the CL. They'll have the CL prestige, they'll have the money to spend, they'll have their manager and the core to build on. Spurs lack all those things. They'll have the burden of CL fixtures but Tottenham will have the EL seemingly for a good long time.

Levy gambled and lost spectacularly.

 

[prestonibbo_mcfc]

They're basically fucked now. Bought a lot of players with the Bale money and are getting nothing for it.

Now Liverpool are a lock for the CL. They'll have the CL prestige, they'll have the money to spend, they'll have their manager and the core to build on. Spurs lack all those things. They'll have the burden of CL fixtures but Tottenham will have the EL seemingly for a good long time.

Levy gambled and lost spectacularly.

But but but, according to THFC6061 he's the shrewdest in the business.

 

[supercrystal7]

Possession means little when you are doing nothing with it. Tottenham had more of the ball and Chelsea were giving it away easily, but they always looked like they would get in at some point. People complain about referee decisions too much. People were doing it at our game today. If the officials had got everything right then Tottenham would have been down 1-0 and playing with ten men from the third minute.

They will probably make fourth and they can hope for a Liverpool collapse as unlikely as that is. They need to win all of their remaining games and hope Liverpool lose to City, Chelsea and United at least.

The only consolation is that their players have not lost value. Loris to PSG, Holbty back to Germany, Sandro, Lamela back to Italty etc. They can easily raise 60/70 million in the summer with players they sell and then reinvest in a more balanced squad.

 

[super_city_si]

Typical Chelsea. Don't make mistakes and when you have quality in your team you usually win

Thought Spurs were the better team for the first hour, but they played a high line at times which was a bit risky.

Why do they continue to do this? They have been caught out due to this time and time again all season.

 

[supercrystal7]

Typical Chelsea. Don't make mistakes and when you have quality in your team you usually win

Thought Spurs were the better team for the first hour, but they played a high line at times which was a bit risky.

Why do they continue to do this? They have been caught out due to this time and time again all season.

Because their defence is terrible and would be destroyed either way. At least the high line works against the weaker teams. They are still fifth and that's with bedding in a lot of players.

 

[Marvin]

Possession means little when you are doing nothing with it. Tottenham had more of the ball and Chelsea were giving it away easily, but they always looked like they would get in at some point. People complain about referee decisions too much. People were doing it at our game today. If the officials had got everything right then Tottenham would have been down 1-0 and playing with ten men from the third minute.

They will probably make fourth and they can hope for a Liverpool collapse as unlikely as that is. They need to win all of their remaining games and hope Liverpool lose to City, Chelsea and United at least.

The only consolation is that their players have not lost value. Loris to PSG, Holbty back to Germany, Sandro, Lamela back to Italty etc. They can easily raise 60/70 million in the summer with players they sell and then reinvest in a more balanced squad.

The game changing moment was the Vertonghen slip and back pass. Game was on a knife edge up until then. Spurs always looked like they might be undone by a ball in behind them, but they had more possession. As you say possession should not be an end in itself, but usually it allows you to control a game

Spurs have a lot of quality in their squad and it's just a question of finding the right balance, and the right coach and sticking by them. But competition for the top 4 is so fierce that no one has any patience.

I'm not sure Spurs will be able to recoup all their transfer outlays. Losing Defoe is a big loss. They too him for granted.

 

[Castiel]

The game changing moment was the Vertonghen slip and back pass. Game was on a knife edge up until then. Spurs always looked like they might be undone by a ball in behind them, but they had more possession. As you say possession should not be an end in itself, but usually it allows you to control a game

Spurs have a lot of quality in their squad and it's just a question of finding the right balance, and the right coach and sticking by them. But competition for the top 4 is so fierce that no one has any patience.

I'm not sure Spurs will be able to recoup all their transfer outlays. Losing Defoe is a big loss. They too him for granted.

No it doesn't. I'm tired of reiterating this but we purposefully concede possession. We even do it against relegation fodder. We've very rarely dominated possession this season because our approach is to draw opponents out and break. As our defensive record shows, we have no issue with allowing the other team to have the ball. The only time we hit the 60/70% numbers, even against really weak sides, is when they refuse to do anything but defend like West Ham.