All the momentum and form is with Spuds, we look shattered mentally and physically and it's worrying Conte couldn't change it despite it being obvious for 70 odd minutes.

We are playing with 9 men effectively when we line up with Matic and Costa, I can't help but think they are playing on past merits because it's certainly not on their ability today. Both fill me with fear with the games remaining,  can't count on them at all.

Next weekend is vital because if we get thumped then Spuds have the mental edge and we will be under unreal pressure. Folk say the games are winnable but they are also just as easily lose able as we seen with Palace and a poor United side. We can't defend, struggle go score and our previous swagger is all but gone at the vital stage in the season.

My biggest hope is Spuds lose a few too but they simply have not done and look unstoppable as we did earlier in the season.

The way I see it, things have changed from "We're so far ahead we'll almost certainly win it" to "We will probably still win it, barring a run of unlikely results". That's an enviable position to be in and one we would have all taken gladly 6 months ago. I checked the odds just now and we're still 1/7 to win the trophy, while Spurs are only 9/2, so it seems that most most neutrals have much more confidence in us than a lot of our own fans. Which doesn't surprise me at all.

Wonder if that bookie that paid out on us winning the league feels so happy doing so now? 

There is a decent chance that, by the time we play boro Spurs will have leapfroged us in the table. We will have played everton and then they play West ham before we play. Next few weeks are going to be really interesting. 

Edited April 17, 20179 yr by axman2526

http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11661/10840512/chelsea-v-tottenham-the-premier-league-title-race-analysed

Interesting article here

I've never rated costa, he's good and does a lot right but I never have faith, I feel bad admitting it. 17, tap ins and deflections, except the one memorable one at home to West Brom. 

A lot depends on this weekend and we all know it. Hoping for atleast a serious performance?

Edited April 17, 20179 yr by Bench1290

1 minute ago, Bench1290 said:

I've never rated costa, he's good and does a lot right but I never have faith, I feel bad admitting it. 17, tap ins and deflections, 

Jesus, what a load of horse sh*t.

12 minutes ago, dkw said:

Jesus, what a load of horse sh*t.

Really? I've watched every second of every game. Maybe I'm being a bit too negative about him but we could find a lot better than him, no? 

Name his talents except strength and decent ball holding?

Fed up to the back teeth of people w**king over Costa yes he can be good, but ffs wake up. He's absolute sh*t and has been for months. He's not interested in Chelsea. Why can't you see this ffs. 

Who's w**king over Costa then, must be fun creating non existent arguments to take offence at.

I think we will still win the league but obviously not a certain as I was a few weeks ago. When we had 11 games to go we needed 24 more points to clinch the title. Up to this point I thought we would have had 9 of those points having predicted draws against Stoke Away and Man City Home which we actually won. I obviously predicted a win against Palace at home and thought we would draw against Utd. But the points I thought we would have at present is the same. I've allowed a loss against Everton away and have predicted a win against all the remaining matches - the toughest of those being West Brom away. If Spurs drop any points at all, which I'm almost certain they will do, then we can afford to maybe turn one of those predicted wins into a draw. The only thing worrying me is the dreadful form of Costa and how badly we played against Utd yesterday.

So our remaining games are: 

Southampton (H)

Everton (A)

Middlesborough (H)

West Brom (A)

Watford (H) 

Sunderland (H)

Realistically, Everton is the only obstacle there. Even a loss there would leave us 1 point clear. 

Spurs still have to play:

Palace (A)

Arsenal (H) 

West Ham (A)

Utd (H)

Leicester (A)

Hull (A)

Palace are in a fine vein of form. Arsenal are sh*te but you never know what happens in a Derby. Utd's defence look like they could withstand anyone at the moment. Can't see them getting maximum points from these fixtures

 

Absolute disgrace if we don't win this now. 

We should win this title, if we dont we can pack the whole club in and burn it to the ground.

Conte has worked miracles to get this squad who finished 10th last year, to 4 points clear with 6 games to go but if the players dont wake up and kick on for the last half a dozen league games, all the excellent work from September to March will have been for sweet f**k all.

If we were caught by City I'd be pi**ed off but if we're caught by Spuds, I'll be livid forever more, theyre historically a tinpot side who are bang in the middle of a purple patch and theyre running us very close.

we were robbed of at least a point agaisnt Palace with the handball and against Utd another handball cost us but this backline has to gather and compose itself and learn how to keep a clean sheet coz christ knows Costa isnt socring again anytime soon.

All we can hope for is that as Spurs realise they've got a better and better chance, the pressure gets to them and they choke as well, as I can see us dropping more points before the end.

19 hours ago, RIP Mourinho said:

So our remaining games are: 

Southampton (H)

Everton (A)

Middlesborough (H)

West Brom (A)

Watford (H) 

Sunderland (H)

Realistically, Everton is the only obstacle there. Even a loss there would leave us 1 point clear. 

Spurs still have to play:

Palace (A)

Arsenal (H) 

West Ham (A)

Utd (H)

Leicester (A)

Hull (A)

Palace are in a fine vein of form. Arsenal are sh*te but you never know what happens in a Derby. Utd's defence look like they could withstand anyone at the moment. Can't see them getting maximum points from these fixtures

 

Absolute disgrace if we don't win this now. 

I hope you're right.

But this is not the same team brimming with confidence earlier in the season where we didn't look like conceding goals and we blew away Utd 4-0 and Everton 5-0. Our defence looks there to be got at again and we now have a striker totally out of form and have once again become too reliant on Hazard. When opponents snuff him out and don't have to worry about Costa, we look half the side we were. So although on paper the Everton game only looks to be the stand-out tricky fixture, the way we played against Utd, they could all be tough and I honestly don't see Spurs dropping any more points the way they are playing.

Hope my pessimism turns out to be just that and we win it with a game or two to spare but I'm not that confident!!

 

 

 

Edited April 18, 20179 yr by Nibs

I don't understand where all our confidence has gone. Why has it suddenly disappeared as a team? 

Surely the Palace defeat hasn't impacted the much, especially as we played against Bournemouth well. 

Maybe the United game will turn out to be just one of those bad days at the office. Much like the Spurs loss was earlier in the season.

The team knows we're not likely to keep a clean sheet at the moment, which can't be helping confidence.

Spurs form is worrying, but ours is becoming seriously worrying. We desperately need to pull our heads out of our asses and finish strong. As for Costa, if he's not going to improve, he needs to be dropped regardless of whether that means Batman coming in, or Hazard/Pedro playing up front.

On 17/04/2017 at 14:22, Bench1290 said:

I've never rated costa, he's good and does a lot right but I never have faith, I feel bad admitting it. 17, tap ins and deflections, except the one memorable one at home to West Brom. 

A lot depends on this weekend and we all know it. Hoping for atleast a serious performance?

 

 

No, just no. 

 

Criticise his form right now all you like, there is no denying that in the first half of the season, Costa was scoring and playing like the perfect all round striker.

spurs remind me of liverpool in that title challenging season they had when they would outscore teams and hardly concede. let's hope palace do to them what they did to liverpool to stop them in their tracks. first we need to do a job on them this weekend and knock their confidence. we still have the quality to pull out a performance when we need them, so i really hope we come out like men possessed to face spurs and match them with intensity. it's time for a few of our players to step up and stop feeling sorry for themselves. 

Edited April 18, 20179 yr by enigma

I think crystal palace was a big dent, it was a travesty that we lost that game.

but for me the united game was very worrying. We looked very poor didn't create anything at all.

if we are to win this league we need to win the next 5 games. We can't keep hoping Spurs will drop points.

2 hours ago, enigma said:

spurs remind me of liverpool in that title challenging season they had when they would outscore teams and hardly concede. let's hope palace do to them what they did to liverpool to stop them in their tracks. first we need to do a job on them this weekend and knock their confidence. we still have the quality to pull out a performance when we need them, so i really hope we come out like men possessed to face spurs and match them with intensity. it's time for a few of our players to step up and stop feeling sorry for themselves. 

Liverpool concealed over 50 goals that season , by far and a away more then most teams in the top 6 at the time, they were always fragile. Spurs have been winning with out pressure, let's see if they can do it when they are in touching distance 

#Chelsea’s off-colour performance at Old Trafford has partly been put down to a bug that affected a number of key players. [Guardian]

Alonso was not the only player still suffering from the virus which had set in within the squad towards the end of last week. [Guardian]

One theory considered by the club is that the bug actually spread through the squad at a team bonding meal last Thursday evening. [Guardian]

 

For the sake of our performances, let's hope it's true  and it was a physical problem  

 

 

 

Lol. Wouldn't that be convenient.

When we lost to Crystal Palace, we bounced back big time. I hope the players return to that mentality.