I hate to moan, but it’s Frank’s rotating which leaves a lot to be desired, certain players playing in certain games leads me to ask questions. Today was perfectly set up for Olly to perhaps start and make the difference in the air & Odoi nowhere to be seen, not even on the bench despite being on good form and Werner being tired, leaves me puzzled. Yes we did well to nullify them and get a point against a good team, but it was there for the taking like I said earlier. 

If anyone doesn't think spuds set up to defend, their 2nd half stats were...

Tottenham in the second half:

41% possession

0 shots

0.0 xG

0 dribbles completed

 

Giroud scored for France, got to play 5 minutes, then scored the winning goal against Rennes, next got to play around 10 minutes.

The thing with Werner up front alone is that i dont think he's good enough in the air/with his head, we clearly want to cross high with Ziyech , James and Chillwell and with Tammy or Giroud it could work but i dont see Werner winning any balls in the air against PL defenders, i would play him in the middle against Leeds though.

3 minutes ago, dkw said:

If anyone doesn't think spuds set up to defend, their 2nd half stats were...

Tottenham in the second half:

41% possession

0 shots

0.0 xG

0 dribbles completed

 

They were setup to hit us on the counter, Jose will obviously be happy with a 0-0 before the game, that's typical Jose. But I think Spurs fans will be very disappointed with how bad they were going forward. We kept them out of the game, especially in that 2nd half, they only had that opportunity from Zouma and that was it, completely outplayed them. 

City also outplayed them and created many chances, but they couldn't defend against them or keep them quiet. We managed to do both, it's just unfortunate we didn't get the 3 points. But I'm taking away the positives from this performance, defensively we are much better than I expected. 

2 minutes ago, DidierDrogbalala said:

The thing with Werner up front alone is that i dont think he's good enough in the air/with his head, we clearly want to cross high with Ziyech , James and Chillwell and with Tammy or Giroud it could work but i dont see Werner winning any balls in the air against PL defenders, i would play him in the middle against Leeds though.

I sort of agree, I don't see Werner as the kind of focal point striker Frank wants us to have, when he has played centrally he's still gravitated wide fairly often during the game. Frank seems to want a striker who the others can play off, get beyond.

Edited November 29, 20205 yr by dkw

1 minute ago, DidierDrogbalala said:

The thing with Werner up front alone is that i dont think he's good enough in the air/with his head, we clearly want to cross high with Ziyech , James and Chillwell and with Tammy or Giroud it could work but i dont see Werner winning any balls in the air against PL defenders, i would play him in the middle against Leeds though.

He did play there against Southampton and scored two cracking goals. City had Aguero and did fine who's about the same height. 

I think we can play with Werner in the middle but some games we will need someone like Giroud there, like today for instance. 

But definitely, I would go with Werner there against Leeds 100%. 

22 minutes ago, dkw said:

I agree that tammy should have done better but disagree he should have been dropped for Gironde, tammy has earned the starts at the moment. I just wish he would commit to some of the chances he gets, he seems to hesitate and not gamble too much.

100% agree dkw. I have faith he is going to deliver for us but it is still very early days for him. I think it will be another 2 to 3 seasons before he is fully developed and even close to being the finished article. Personally I would like to see him carry a little more weight for his frame I feel that would give him more of a physical presence when holding the ball up.

This game proves that we're still missing a top striker. Unpopular as this may sound, neither Tammy nor Werner are clinical enough and Giroud doesn't have the legs. We still haven't scored against any of the decent teams we have faced so far (Liverpool, Man U, Sevilla and now Spurs). Top strikers win you such tight games. We created enough chances to score at least one goal. 

2 minutes ago, Slojo said:

He did play there against Southampton and scored two cracking goals. City had Aguero and did fine who's about the same height. 

I think we can play with Werner in the middle but some games we will need someone like Giroud there, like today for instance. 

But definitely, I would go with Werner there against Leeds 100%. 

cant wait to play them..  i am sure they will be extra pumped and even Biesla from the spygate episode.. and Bamford would be a returning player.. but again so many derbies for London teams... i just feel that its tougher for us due to these derbies.. even sh*te teams like west ham / fulham / QPR / CP seem to raise their games against other london teams..

1 minute ago, Slojo said:

He did play there against Southampton and scored two cracking goals. City had Aguero and did fine who's about the same height. 

I think we can play with Werner in the middle but some games we will need someone like Giroud there, like today for instance. 

But definitely, I would go with Werner there against Leeds 100%. 

You are right about Southampton, the thing is they play a really high line wich is why i think Lamps picked him to play striker that day. Most games the oppositon sits really low and Werner doesnt have the space to make his runs. But like you said, depending on the opponent Lampard gonna change his striker.

5 minutes ago, TheSage said:

This game proves that we're still missing a top striker. Unpopular as this may sound, neither Tammy nor Werner are clinical enough and Giroud doesn't have the legs. We still haven't scored against any of the decent teams we have faced so far (Liverpool, Man U, Sevilla and now Spurs). Top strikers win you such tight games. We created enough chances to score at least one goal. 

Werner is used in the wrong position, he's not a real wide player.

He played 7 times as a winger for us now, he scored in that position 2 goals.

As a striker he played for us only 3 times and he scored 2 goals just as well, he's clearly more potent as a striker even if he loves going wide sometimes. He can catch a good cross too even if he isn't that tall, we saw in this game how Ziyech crossed the ball to him and then the ref thought he played with the hand somehow but he clearly can get to crosses too. IMO he's half the player when he's being played wide, most teams have a full back that is fast but to find a CB that will cope with Werner's speed is more rare.

Like many here, I do think the subs come a bit late. You can see there was momentum toward the end of the game as the subs starting to get into game speed/rhythm. I feel another 10 min or so, and Chelsea could have win the game.

Still, Chelsea created more than enough chances today to win. Just need to put those chances on target.

Agreed with others that when you don't hear Song or Kane mentioned much throughout the game; your defense is doing quite well.

 

 

 

37 minutes ago, dkw said:

Ain't that the truth, angry f**ker ha ha...

Jimmy is actually a lovely guy (unless you get between him and the back of the net). 

3 minutes ago, Gol15 said:

Werner is used in the wrong position, he's not a real wide player.

He played 7 times as a winger for us now, he scored in that position 2 goals.

As a striker he played for us only 3 times and he scored 2 goals just as well, he's clearly more potent as a striker even if he loves going wide sometimes. He can catch a good cross too even if he isn't that tall, we saw in this game how Ziyech crossed the ball to him and then the ref thought he played with the hand somehow but he clearly can get to crosses too. IMO he's half the player when he's being played wide, most teams have a full back that is fast but to find a CB that will cope with Werner's speed is more rare.

 

Both Werner and Pulisic are very slick and tricky small players in the box. Their speed and game intelligence make it very difficult for defenses to track them running into the box, and more than likely to be able to get to the end of crosses. Pulisic, for a short guy, could really jump and catches balls on the air.

 

 

Thought we were decent they were sh*t sat in there own box and did f**k all, we had a few chances to win the game but didn’t take them. Annoying not to beat those c**ts but it’s another clean sheet and keeps our good run going, onto the next one UTC

Just now, haviet1 said:

 

Both Werner and Pulisic are very slick and tricky small players in the box. Their speed and game intelligence make it very difficult for defenses to track them running into the box, and more than likely to be able to get to the end of crosses. Pulisic, for a short guy, could really jump and catches balls on the air.

 

 

I just want to see our new team fully fit. 

Pulisic - Werner - Ziyech

And behind them Mount - Havertz and Kovacic as the DM. That's to me our best lineup on paper that should create tons of goals. We saw today how Kante could't do much in many occasions when Kane and Son dropped deep and got a pass, even Ndombele bossed him around. The biggest difference in our team has been first and foremost Mendy and then T.Silva, I would really love to see Mount and Havertz as 2 number 8's and Kovacic behind them.

Our defense have improved massively since last season and bar the odd mistake we look very stable at the back. Soon enough I think we'll start beating the rest of the "top 6 sides".

Some of the posts here today are f**king ridicolous.

Tottenham set up not to lose and defended very well... Are you all forgetting what it was like when Jose managed us or what? 

Tammy bottled his chances and shouldn't be in the starting 11, should be Werner up top. 

Think the most disappointing thing may well be that we did not score against a defence that included the awful Aurier, defensively suspect Regillion and error prone Dier.

30 minutes ago, Gol15 said:

I just want to see our new team fully fit. 

Pulisic - Werner - Ziyech

And behind them Mount - Havertz and Kovacic as the DM. That's to me our best lineup on paper that should create tons of goals. We saw today how Kante could't do much in many occasions when Kane and Son dropped deep and got a pass, even Ndombele bossed him around. The biggest difference in our team has been first and foremost Mendy and then T.Silva, I would really love to see Mount and Havertz as 2 number 8's and Kovacic behind them.

Jorginho is 3rd in your DM depth chart ? ? ? ?

1 hour ago, Imran_CFC said:

Tammy is the most clumsiest footballer I've ever seen, always seems to be falling over his feet when he is about to receive the ball.

No questioning his heart though, always gives 100%, with experience he should improve.

Reminds me of Demba Ba aka Bambi on ice. Tammy also complains too much about almost everything. He should channel that dissatisfaction into self-improvement.

Defence solid once again. It is a shame Giroud was not on for when James delivered those 2 brilliant crosses. I thought Mount was good and thought Kovacic was top class.

Waiting to win one of the so called 'big games' but progress being made.

49 minutes ago, Gol15 said:

Werner is used in the wrong position, he's not a real wide player.

He played 7 times as a winger for us now, he scored in that position 2 goals.

As a striker he played for us only 3 times and he scored 2 goals just as well, he's clearly more potent as a striker even if he loves going wide sometimes. He can catch a good cross too even if he isn't that tall, we saw in this game how Ziyech crossed the ball to him and then the ref thought he played with the hand somehow but he clearly can get to crosses too. IMO he's half the player when he's being played wide, most teams have a full back that is fast but to find a CB that will cope with Werner's speed is more rare.

Agree with this. I can't understand a transfer policy that brings in genuine pace throughout the team and then we play sterile football in front of packed defences because we're scared of being counter attacked. Play Werner down the middle, move the ball quicker and use the pace we have.

4 minutes ago, DidierDrogbalala said:

Jorginho is 3rd in your DM depth chart ? ? ? ?

On paper Kovacic should be better simply because he runs with the ball so well. Kante is doing well too but this whole "protecting the backline" is very much overrated I mean we saw that counter attack by Spurs it had nothing to do with our midfielders we simply have a much more stable keeper in Mendy and a world class CB that make the most difference out there. Kante making 1 clearance 1 interception and a few tackles is still not prime Kante, after all as the box-to-box he has much higher impact that led us to winning against Rennes and also he's got 1 assist while playing box-to-box, so we're still not really getting the best out of him as the DM if you ask me, Kovacic on paper could do the job and then when the time comes Gilmour/Ampadu/Rice...