CityVP Manjit

5 years ago · 3 min. reading time · 0 ·

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Choking at the Bridge Again

Choking at the Bridge Again

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CityVP Manjit

Chelsea fans could have expected a total team melt down at Stamford Bridge today after the crazy happenings with the shenanigans near the end of the League Cup Final last week against Manchester City.  This should have been a wobbly and broken Chelsea team that Spurs play today, instead Spurs gave Chelsea the gift of letting the chaos created by now benched goalkeeper Kepa, who refused to come off when substituted at the Cup Final.  Instead of adding to the Chelsea crisis, Tottenham did what only Tottenham can, play well below their best and choke so much, it raised the collective confidence of the entire Chelsea squad.  Chelsea did more than win 3 points today, they were able to put to rest the shambles of the Manchester City penalty shoot out defeat, a stay of execution on their beleagured and much criticized manager Sarri and ended the day doing what they did a couple of years ago, enjoying and reveling in destroying Tottenham's title aspirations.

A dirty tackle by David Luiz on Harry Kane near the end summed up the actual mentality of the teams.  Luiz was cynical and wanted to get under the skin of Kane, while Kane in being bullied by Luiz on the touchline, did not do what Luiz would do, which is fall down and writhe in pain, just to get Luiz sent off - he took the bait and it was nearly reminiscent of how Tottenham players lost their heads a couple of years ago, when Chelsea with nothing to play for, goaded them into an ill-disciplined game.  That with all this experience, Tottenham players have not out-grown this immaturity is a reason why Chelsea have been a team that has won titles and Spurs have won nothing, including be dumped out of the League Cup on penalties.  Mercifully Chelsea spared Tottenham the punishment of a beating by Manchester City in the final - a beating that is odds on considering how jaded the team looks. 

The worst nightmare is still in front of Tottenham, with Arsenal coming to Wembley looking for blood and a league double in home and away wins over their local rivals.  Tottenham players are still open to fanciful comments and boasts, which have more to do with naivety and ego than they have to do is psyching the other team out.  Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City at the height of their powers know how to do that.  In today's performance by Liverpool, just the utter confidence to play delightful and fearless football saw them thump Watford.  Indeed all the Top 6 teams won today except for Tottenham.   Arsenal will now relish winning at Wembley and closing the gap on Spurs to just 1 point.

An Arsenal loss may be the catalyst for Spurs losing a champions league place all together.  With the state of the team as it is now,  going to Liverpool and Manchester City look like ZERO POINT foregone conclusions.  This means that the chasing pack of Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea can make up 6 points on Tottenham.  An Arsenal loss will mean that all three teams will be technically ahead of Spurs by 1 or 2 points after Spurs lose as they are now expected to lose at the home of the top two.  Mauricio Pochettino needs to learn how to cope with these situations by not getting himself embroiled in the same kind of emotions his players naively engage.  That is the difference between teams that do not win titles and teams that expect to win titles. 

Then there is the awful Kieran Trippier who lucked out to gain such prestige and high profile for his fluke England performances.  Spurs could have easily got $50 million for the player had they sold him at the start of the season.  They will be lucky to get half of that return now.  Trippier's insane back pass to Lloris was so bad, that only if he was a forward scoring like that in the opposition box would it look like a thing of genius.  It is not genius to score an own-goal, and it is not genius to miss out on the multi-million dollars that Champions League qualification gains a top four team.  Lloris is still a good goalkeeper and no one can deny him now of his World Cup winners medal, but every now and then he makes silly errors that got Heurelho Gomez moved from Tottenham to Watford.  Gomez is now Watford's No.2 and while Gomez too is a brilliant keeper, his mistakes proved to be very costly.

The pressure now is fully on this Tottenham team to ensure they play at their best form against an Arsenal team that looked very together, very confident and silky smooth in their skills and what is more frightening for Spurs is how Ozil who was taken out of the Arsenal squad, looks like he is suddenly re-found some fine form. With Mehzut Ozil back in form, that is a big plus for Arsenal.  On paper Tottenham have a better squad, but Tottenham have also proven to better chokers.  Every now and again they seem to be proving themselves not as Spursy as people make them out to be, but on todays like today Spursy is the only way to explain two goals that were awful !   Not having shots on the Chelsea goal may indicate that the effects of a long World Cup are beginning to wear away at this Tottenham team and now and only now comes into question why Daniel Levy did not spend any money on transfers - a false economy if there ever was one - because even $50 million is better spend if it means not losing $50 million in not qualifying for the Champions League next year !

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Comments

CityVP Manjit

5 years ago #1

#2
That comes with the territory of supporting teams who are not perennial winners who inject multi-million dollars to pay the best to play the best at fat cat clubs. Spurs are less heartbreaking than they used to be, but poor old Newcastle United fans, if ever there was a break your heart kind of club it is that one - hopefully Mike Ashley the owner sells the club to someone who has both a business interest but also a deep passion for the Geordie Nation.

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