Premier League: Three key talking points from Tottenham 2-4 Chelsea
1. Juan Mata is the early candidate for Player of the Year.
He can’t get into the Spanish national side and he’s been somewhat overshadowed by the arrivals of Eden Hazard and Oscar at Chelsea and compatriot Santi Cazorla at Arsenal, but Juan Mata is the early leader for player of the year.
His movement and passing touch are wonderful and vintage Spain, but when you add his finishing ability, which was fully on display in both of his goals today… Chelsea’s whole squad deserves credit for the win, but the Spanish genius Mata is the best of the lot.
2. Chelsea are the early favourites for the title.
It’s a funny thing; of Chelsea and the two Manchester sides, the side that one would expect to need the most time to gel is Chelsea. But while United has struggled to fit Robin Van Persie into the side and City have – rather inexplicably, it must be noted – struggled at the start, Chelsea have taken the Premier League by storm.
The trio of Oscar, Mata and Hazard have proven too much for every defense they’ve met so far and it’s hard to see anyone slowing them down this year. Early on questions remained as to whether Chelsea would have enough width because all three players seem to prefer playing a more central role. But Branislav Ivanovic and Ashley Cole have both been on form and have provided the needed width.
The player who could’ve tested that today – Gareth Bale – missed the match (more on that shortly). The scariest part is that Chelsea has done all this with a semi-comatose striker. If Fernando Torres were on form, Chelsea could easily have had six against Spurs. If Chelsea can add Falcao next summer, they may rule English football for as long as they can keep their front four healthy and happy.
3. All that being said, Spurs deserve credit for their performance today.
Strange thing about the match is that, as essential as Moussa Dembele and Bale are, Spurs actually missed Younes Kaboul and Benoit Assou-Ekotto more. Had they been available, Jan Vertonghen would have paired with Kaboul in central defence, taking Gallas and his three defensive gaffes that led to goals out of the picture. (By the way, does Gallas have some kind of blackmail on AVB? I don’t know what Dawson has to do to get a look in, but Gallas’ continual presence in the first XI is baffling.)
Even with Kaboul and Assou-Ekotto in the lineup, that still doesn’t account for Kyle Walker, who has regressed significantly on the defensive side of things this season. He was never a great defender, but he’s been at fault on multiple goals this year, none more noticeable than Chelsea’s fourth. So that’s still worrying.
But as much as Spurs’ defensive was at sea, the front six was sound. Jermain Defoe continued his scintillating run of form, Aaron Lennon had some good moments, and Gylfi Sigurdsson looked surprisingly good coming in on the left. His finishing desperately needs to improve as he’s missed two or three sitters already this year. Based on his previous record, I’m hoping this is just a slump. Once he gets the first goal, hopefully his form will improve.
Big picture, Spurs had 26 shots, ten on target. That’s a good number against a team of Chelsea’s calibre, especially given the absence of Spurs’ best attacking player (Bale) and most tactically important (Dembele). Defeat may come as a blow, but for Spurs Champions League football is still a strong and realistic possibility.
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4) Dare I say it but Chelsea are becoming one of the most exciting sides to watch in the Premier League at present. Some of the link up play between Torres, Mata, Hazard and Oscar was absolutely superb…
Jonathan – Agreed. Will be interesting to see how the United Chelsea matches go… United have the wide men to keep Chelsea’s fullbacks pushed deep, so that could give Chelsea trouble. On the other hand, United doesn’t have the midfield to cope with Chelsea. Scholes against that group is a red card waiting to happen. If I’m United in that one, I go 4-3-3 with Cleverley, Fletcher and Rooney in midfield and Young and Valencia flanking RVP up top. Not ideal for Rooney, but he’ll have to turn in a full shift in midfield or they’ll be overrun.
As you say, someone like Anderson/Fletcher will be important in that game otherwise United will be overrun in midfield, as they have been often this season – and against lesser sides than Chelsea too (Southampton being one).
I reckon Rooney will be asked to drop deep in that game, keeping a close eye on Mata or Oscar/Lampard whenever Chelsea have the ball. Big question will be if United’s full backs can handle Chelsea’s interchange and movement…
Spurs were without their two most in form players in Bale and Dembele. I am totally convinced looking at the game as a whole that we would have won the game with those two playing. The difference for Chelsea was one player in Juan Mata. Thats it, otherwise the two teams were equal. Yes they didnt have Terry but he is passed his best and I dont think they will miss him anymore than England will. Had Spurs had their first eleven on show there can be no doubt we would have won. Lets face it 2-4 no way reflects the game, their 4 th goal coming from an early christmas present from Kyle Walker. So all in all Spurs can take some positives from tne game, mainly that a weakened Spurs team were more than equal to a team who currently sit top of the league. Can’t wait for the return match!
Dembélé was probably the most important abscence for Spurs yesterday – the midfield was too open with Huddlestone in.
Their was nowhere near enough pressure on Ivanovic who still, somehow, managed to look vulnerable, so, yeah, Bale would have been nice, but Townsend could have been used to do that job, at least for the latter stages of the second half. For some reason AVB didn’t try that.
Sigurdsson and/or Dempsey are going to play so much better with Adebayor.
Overall, I agree – under the circumstances it was a decent effort.
I’m not saying that Bale and Dembele weren’t big misses, but even so, we scored two without them. And of Chelsea’s 4, there isn’t a single one of them where you can say “Our defending was perfect and they just beat us.” Gallas had two poor clearances that led to the first two goals. Third goal, Gallas fell asleep, though that was still their best goal of the day – that through ball from Hazard was stunning. Fourth goal… man, what are you doing Walker?
I think the difference between Kaboul and BAE in the side but not Bale or Dembele would be more pronounced than the diff. with Bale and Dembele but no Kaboul or BAE. That defense with Gallas and Walker is just a sieve right now. Hell, just add Kaboul to that, keep Vert at left back and I still think it’s a better match b/c Caulker held his own for the most part.