Sorry, No. I for one won't accept what you claim. Yes you were the better team in the first half. But, the second half we were a match for you. We gifted you three of your goals by some shocking defending by Gallas & Walker. Also, it could very easily have been 3-3 minutes before the end, had it not been for a great save. We had you reeling for periods of the second half. You couldn't cope with Lennon. Had Bale been available, as well. I think we may well have finished you off.
Well,I was expecting another win but that result put us in our place and a suspect defence being found out! Sort it out lads and lets get back to work!!!!
Not blaming Bale by any means! Some things in life are more important than football. By the end of the first half we matched Chelsea and we were equal to them for most of the second half, and better for patches. Thats the reason for encouragement. As NSIS says we had Chelsea on the ropes for periods of the second half just as they had us on the ropes during much of the first. If certain players (Defoe...) had better decision making then we might have made more of the opportunities we had. It was isolated mistakes rather than a poor performance overall that cost us.
Disagree that Vertonghen should stay left back when Benny is fit. Vertonghen is a world class centre half and should be playing there. Benny and Bale link up well down the left so no need to change things. I'm p*ssed off with the result but not too much overall. On another day we could easily have got something out of that game. It's just gutting to have half our first team missing for a big game like this. We have an unbelievably tough November coming up and I desperately hope Dembele and Benny are fit so we don't have to play Gallas and Sigurdsson. I'm sure all the Spurs fans who saw the line ups before the game didn't give us a chance. It's worth baring in mind the front 4 of Chelsea cost £130 million compared to what we have to work with!
considering we had our top players missing no way were we 2 goals worse,i think we have a good chance of a top 4 spot now,as we had a very good Chelsea team, (who imo will win the C/L )rocking at times
I agree on the depth. That's what I was getting at in a previous post. But it's more about the specifics within our squad depth. We've got lots of players, but we're still in need of some more, who you know when they come on,they'll give you like for like in terms of ability. Can't say I agree on VDV.-although he was quality, it made us one dimensional. We always tried to make allowances for him, but it didn't always work and his fitness caused us tactical issues at times.
I believe that that is what AVB has in mind, however. Vertonghen is a tremendous acquisition for the club, and very versatile - he frequently plays at LB for his country. I'm no great Benny fan, and I somehow doubt that AVB is either. I may be wrong, but I suspect that once Kaboul is fully match fit, his CB pairing will be Caulker & Kaboul.
I'm gutted we lost and we didn't deserve to. But at least today there was no controversial refereeing bullshit that ruined the game. There's been so many decisions that have ruined this game in recent seasons, none more so than the phantom goal line bundle in the FA cup tie. Just a shame gallas decided to give us a load of bullshit today! Haha
Gallas was woeful today (his goal aside). I don't know why people are anti Benny. He is a better LEFT BACK than Vertonghen. Vertonghen should be playing centre half and today Naughton should have played left back. I honestly reckon we would have at least got a draw today if that had been the defence. Gallas is a liability. That header for their first goal was ridiculous for someone of his experience. Why would you head the ball there of all places? Benny gets criticised for the odds mistake but walker has made more this season already than Benny has in the last 3. We all know the talent walker has but it is unfair if we don't start Naughton as right back for the next league match as what is the point of competition in the squad otherwise?
todays match was too much for Gallas but i wont have a pop at him..he was immense against Villa...its for AVB to see the obvious and i think he will.
So gutting. Overall I felt our side deserved a draw which would've been an impressive achievement given that we're missing some key players. Lots of positives though, playing like that showed we will be able to beat teams without Bale and Dembele. Aside from a few silly passes here and there we played the ball well and I thought Huddlestone looked good, much better than his previous performances for us this season. Both sides missed a couple of gilt edged chances but the difference in scoreline came down to their finishing 2 of their "decent" chances whilst ours were squandered. Ultimately that's what's going to happen when you have a front 4 that cost £130mill against a front 4 that cost less than £30mill, in an open game where both sides get chances the chances are the vastly more expensive side will have the edge. Hopefully now Benny and Naughton are back Gallas can be dropped. He's often ignored the line everone else is holding and gone deeper to suit his aging legs and whilst he made a few mistakes today, it's the defensive line that is important to our game and is becoming a consistent problem for him, particularly as he tires. As much as Walker made a total mess of things for the 4th, he actually had the best game he's had for us this season. It's not exactly difficult as he's been poor but I thought he did well, much like Vertonghen's poor play giving Chelsea the ball which led to one of Mata's goals. I was pleased with the performance even if it was a bit rough around the edges. One thing I liked was how well Defoe played when he moved out to the left, we all know Ade works the channels well but having him as the physical presence upfront and having Defoe cutting in from the right could work when Bale's out, particularly against teams lower in the league. One small dig at the ref, who did well booking Ivanovic for diving, even if he missed a few others from Chelsea players, is how on Earth did Mikel get away without a booking? If he wasn't fouling he was throwing himself to the floor under minimal pressure from a Spurs player.
Not sure why everyone rates Naughton at left back. It was the same when Rose did okay in a couple of games there for us, everyone gets carried away and thinks Benny's got competition for his place. From what I've seen of him for us this season, Naughton up against Mata/Torres/Hazard could've got very messy for us.
As a neutral Chavs had the game under control for the whole of the first half, had a shaky 15 mins at the start of the second half, then stepped it up a gear and completely outclassed Spurs and deserved their win. Spurs dont have the depth for top 4. Thats what today taught me. 2 of their best players injured and it showed. need to reinforce in January to have any chance but even moreso now can't see past anyone other than Chavs, Mancs, City and Arse taking the top 4 places. Losing Modric and VDV has cost Spurs top 4 this season imo. Fantastic game to watch as a neutral though. really enjoyable.
I'm sorry... I was in the away end today and despite the 15 mins in the second half when you scored your goals, you didn't play very well imo. It was a great game though and obviously I'm chuffed to bits. Our away fans were so loud today it was ridiculous. One of the best away supports I've been in for sure...
Went to the game today, just leaving the Tory club at Bruce grove. In my opinion, and those around me, we were lucky to get to half time only 1 down. We were abysmal in the 1st half. 2nd wasn't much better to be honest. We missed dembele today, thud was poor. Gylfi was poor again, walker had a shocker. Likewise gallas. Not too many players can hold their heads up this evening. Defoe ran his heart out, Lennon likewise. Verts had another good game, sandro was hit & miss at times. Ade looked good when he eventually came on. The rest just didn't turn up. The most annoying aspect of today for me though, Chelsea weren't very good themselves and were there for the taking. A wasted chance, again.
id like to see anyone apart from City replace their 2 star players without being affected. take out Hazard and Mata and replace with? take out Rooney and Van Persie and replace with? take out Carziola(sp) and whoever their second best player is and replace with? so i think you have the wrong end of the stick with that analysis..we will be in the mix for CL football..one thing i am confident of this season as oppose to last is beating teams we should..more so than last year.
Best away support ?? I thought your distasteful behaviour towards David Ginola at half time showed a real lack of class.
I went down for a drink at half tie so have no idea what went on but you have to admit that vocally we were class today and we went so mental when Mata got our third...
