end.
The fourth game against Chelsea this season resulted in the fourth defeat, without Spurs registering a goal, in the fourth predictably clueless display and strange decisions by Conte.
With over three weeks of the transfer window gone and nothing having changed in regards to playing personnel Conte again looked like he was making the point to Levy. Did Levy notice, will it produce the response Conte wants? Requires?
A starting XI that saw the Italian field six defenders in a new 4-4-2 formation, with a central pair that included Winks, so playing one man short from the off. It didn’t look good on paper. It didn’t look good on grass. No creativity at all.
With Lo Celso, Dele and Ndombele missing from the substitute bench, this was a real statement. A statement of cutting off your nose.
It’s amazing to think it was six years to the day that Dele scored that goal at Palace…
6 years ago today, Dele scored *THAT* volley against Crystal Palace. I cannot believe it was that long ago. 🤯🤯🤯pic.twitter.com/rwqLGvrTZe
— The Spurs Web (@thespursweb) January 23, 2022
Now he can’t make the bench and is waiting to be shipped out to the likes of Newcastle. When he scored that goal, what top team wasn’t looking at him, not that long ago he would have still fetch a good sum. Now, they’ll be quibbling over a loan fee.
So with that it panned out like much of the previous three defeats panned out. Them having all the ball and the ponderous Spurs players being run around.
Spurs had an early break when Winks ran through and had a piss weak shot. He was let through because the home side knew he posed no threat, while they defended Kane and Bergwijn.
Spurs could have gone ahead but Silva did his dying swan act at the slightest touch from Kane and so the midget in charge ruled it out. Well, you knew what would follow that. It came after Chelsea got the opener but you just knew it was coming eventually.
It took until after the break for them to open the scoring, after missing a number of chances – that big lump Lukaku. Hudson-Odoi got past Tanganga, at right back, with ease probably due to the defender being on his usual early yellow. Still plenty chance to stop anything as the ball is played across to the left, where Sessegnon stands off Ziyech, while Davies joins him from a distance with his hands behind his back, looking like a schoolboy in front of the headmaster. A curler from the Chealsea player into the top corner gave Hugo no chance – some actually blaming him for not diving :facepalm: He saved ’em a few times after that.
Conte made changes, changed the formation, but with what he had at his disposal nothing really changed on the pitch. The Winks fanbois were silent, as their boy did nothing – some still managed to mark him 6 or 7 out of 10. Didn’t create. Didn’t defend – I mean Chelsea had 75% of the ball in the first half, by the time he went off with 10 minutes to go it was down to two thirds of possession, yet during those 80 minutes he didn’t attempt a single tackle. Meanwhile Chelsea’s scorer made four of the six he went for.
By the time he went off, the lead was two, actually well before he departed, as it was less than ten minutes after the opener. A goal from a dumb free-kick, from wide right. Well, we’ve all seen this one before. What was Sanchez doing as Silva scored? You knew he would after his troubles with gravity earlier on.
And that was it. This wasn’t a team managed by Brendan Rodgers. They might have been on a poor run but Dr. Tottenham was here to cure all known ills, he wasn’t going to let the home side inflect any self induced wounds. No self inflicted wounds was for Spurs alone. Someone tweeted that he’s never seen a team give the ball away so much. They did so, as I replied, under no pressure whatsoever. It was posted seconds after Davies had done just that. At the end the Welshman’s passing percetange stood at 50%. Each ball was a fifty/fifty.
Was Conte more interested in scoring points against Levy than scoring points for Spurs? Is it a good move? Would Traore make any difference? Really?
Conte chose to change formation and it’s a familiar trait from most of the recent Spurs managers. Change themselves to try and fit in with others. While the top teams have a system and stick with that system. Yes there’s the odd change but it isn’t week in week out. Pick a formation, make sure it’s one with three in the middle – Spurs need that extra body – and stick with it, so you can get used to it. Impose yourself on the opposition rather than pandering to them.
I know easier said than done. But would fans prefer a team lose going for it, or one that has been so passive as they have against Chelsea this season… on the plus side… at least Spurs haven’t forked out £97,000,000 on Lukaku…