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Match ratings Chelsea
- Thread starter Jurgen the German
- Start date
SUIYHA
Scott Parker
Friedel - 5 - Felt he could have saved the goal. A few other stops but nothing particularly challenging. Lloris should have started.
Walker - 5 - Mostly ok, but a couple of mistakes though including one that gifted them their 4th goal
Gallas - 5 - Had a lot to do, made some big mistakes including assisting Cahill's goal
Caulker - 6 - Ok
Vertonghen - 6 - Generally solid, a few runs going forward but none that really led to anything major
Lennon - 8 - Our only player in the first half looking like making things happen. Didn't deserve to be on the losing side.
Sandro - 7 - Sloppy first half, some excellent tackles in the second but faded towards the end
Huddlestone - 6 - Much of the game passed him by in the first half, but we got the ball to him more in the second and his delivery was decent
Sigurdsson - 6 - Awful first half, improved in the second, should have probably scored though as he had a fair few chances
Dempsey - 3 - Terrible performance. Is never ever a left winger as he quite simply doesn't have the pace to play there. A few other occasions when we were attacking at pace he slowed things down and went backwards. Very disappointing.
Defoe - 7 - Worked his gonad*s off, got a deserved goal
Subs:
Livermore - 5 - Offered very little
Adebayor - 6 - Provided us with an aerial outlet in the final third, his touch was sloppy though
AVB - 4 - It's not his fault that he lost Bale at the last minute today, but his tactics were very poor. I think it was Defoe who earlier this week said that AVB prepares the players for every single game, talking tactics etc, so if that's true then when Bale goes then you need to go like for like and bring in Townsend instead. A system with fast players on both wings is what we'd been training with and practising all season so why change it? You need a dribbler to play in the wing forward position in a 4-3-3/4-5-1 formation, so it was utter madness to play Dempsey there. At half-time he must have given a Churchill-esque speech because we came out and were outstanding for the first 20 minutes or so of the second half, so kudos to him. But, he was slow to react with the substitutions, should never have made the Livermore sub, took far too long to get Ade on, and didn't get Townsend on.
Walker - 5 - Mostly ok, but a couple of mistakes though including one that gifted them their 4th goal
Gallas - 5 - Had a lot to do, made some big mistakes including assisting Cahill's goal
Caulker - 6 - Ok
Vertonghen - 6 - Generally solid, a few runs going forward but none that really led to anything major
Lennon - 8 - Our only player in the first half looking like making things happen. Didn't deserve to be on the losing side.
Sandro - 7 - Sloppy first half, some excellent tackles in the second but faded towards the end
Huddlestone - 6 - Much of the game passed him by in the first half, but we got the ball to him more in the second and his delivery was decent
Sigurdsson - 6 - Awful first half, improved in the second, should have probably scored though as he had a fair few chances
Dempsey - 3 - Terrible performance. Is never ever a left winger as he quite simply doesn't have the pace to play there. A few other occasions when we were attacking at pace he slowed things down and went backwards. Very disappointing.
Defoe - 7 - Worked his gonad*s off, got a deserved goal
Subs:
Livermore - 5 - Offered very little
Adebayor - 6 - Provided us with an aerial outlet in the final third, his touch was sloppy though
AVB - 4 - It's not his fault that he lost Bale at the last minute today, but his tactics were very poor. I think it was Defoe who earlier this week said that AVB prepares the players for every single game, talking tactics etc, so if that's true then when Bale goes then you need to go like for like and bring in Townsend instead. A system with fast players on both wings is what we'd been training with and practising all season so why change it? You need a dribbler to play in the wing forward position in a 4-3-3/4-5-1 formation, so it was utter madness to play Dempsey there. At half-time he must have given a Churchill-esque speech because we came out and were outstanding for the first 20 minutes or so of the second half, so kudos to him. But, he was slow to react with the substitutions, should never have made the Livermore sub, took far too long to get Ade on, and didn't get Townsend on.
Simon_B
Matthew Etherington
Friedel - 6 - Hard to blame him for any of the four goals.
Walker - 5 - Most of the game he was decent, but unfortunately keeps making huge mistakes.
Gallas - 4 - Awful game.
Caulker - 6,5 - Decent game.
Vertonghen - 8 - Very good game, won a lot of balls including a King'esque last ditch tackle and was very good going forward. His tracking back was lacking a bit, but as I saw it Huddlestone covered his position for the second goal, so wouldn't blame him for that goal.
Sandro - 6,5 - Same old story, a beast defensively, but it's a serious problem, that he is so poor in keeping posession.
Huddlestone - 7 - Thought he was quite good. When he went off there was nobody to dictate the build up play. He's obviously not yet back to his old level, but still think he has a major role to play at Spurs. Should be first in line to replace Sandro or Dembele.
Sigurdsson - 5 - Much improved 2nd half, but that first half performance was a disaster. You can tell from his finishing that he obviously lacks confidence. Should be nowhere near the first team until he has proved himself in the cups. Townsend should've started IMO.
Lennon - 8 (MOM) - Looked the only attacking threat throughout the game. So pleased to see him getting more involved lately.
Dempsey - 5 - Looks like a passenger, even during our great period he looked invicible.
Defoe - 7,5 - Surprised me with a good game against a top team, also looked good when cutting in from the left in the second half. Could be a possible solution on how to use both him and Adebayor
AVB - 5 - Unlucky with Bale and Dembele not being available, but shouldn't have started both Gylfi and Dempsey. Should've introduced AVB earlier as well.
Walker - 5 - Most of the game he was decent, but unfortunately keeps making huge mistakes.
Gallas - 4 - Awful game.
Caulker - 6,5 - Decent game.
Vertonghen - 8 - Very good game, won a lot of balls including a King'esque last ditch tackle and was very good going forward. His tracking back was lacking a bit, but as I saw it Huddlestone covered his position for the second goal, so wouldn't blame him for that goal.
Sandro - 6,5 - Same old story, a beast defensively, but it's a serious problem, that he is so poor in keeping posession.
Huddlestone - 7 - Thought he was quite good. When he went off there was nobody to dictate the build up play. He's obviously not yet back to his old level, but still think he has a major role to play at Spurs. Should be first in line to replace Sandro or Dembele.
Sigurdsson - 5 - Much improved 2nd half, but that first half performance was a disaster. You can tell from his finishing that he obviously lacks confidence. Should be nowhere near the first team until he has proved himself in the cups. Townsend should've started IMO.
Lennon - 8 (MOM) - Looked the only attacking threat throughout the game. So pleased to see him getting more involved lately.
Dempsey - 5 - Looks like a passenger, even during our great period he looked invicible.
Defoe - 7,5 - Surprised me with a good game against a top team, also looked good when cutting in from the left in the second half. Could be a possible solution on how to use both him and Adebayor
AVB - 5 - Unlucky with Bale and Dembele not being available, but shouldn't have started both Gylfi and Dempsey. Should've introduced AVB earlier as well.
colin fishwick
Reto Ziegler
Very harsh. Townsend for Bale is hardly like for like. You plat a system that suits the players you have. They had , MUCH betters players than us and we matched them a draw would have been a fair result.
Given the players available, we played aboout as well as could have been hoped for.
AVB did well today IMO
thfcsteff
Terry Dyson
Friedel 6 - I just feel that at 41 we cannot expect anything more than fundamentally decent goalkeeping. In matches where you might need extra I don't think his body allows it any more.
Walker 5 - Really bizarre this season with regards to his poor relationship with his immediate CB, and today we saw it ruthlessly exposed. Great effort, great determination but something's not right with his comprehension of 'the system'. I think he really misses Younes.
Gallas 5 - One of 'mad' games. From the poor defensive header to Cahill and the booking, he was just bonkers/getting caught often in tandem with Walker.
Caulker 6 - Strong, determined, fairly solid.
Vertonghen 7.5 - Would've been a 9 for me had he not stopped playing to the whistle and half-trudged back in the lead up to their equalizer. His almost-routine goal-saving tackle was epic, and he is a wonderful player overall.
Sandro 7 - Strong and put in a very very tough shift.
Hudd 6 - If only he could get enough stamina to play 90 mins. he was the covering player in the lead-up to equalizer and his fatigue showed as he failed to close down; AVB had been warming Livermore up knowing Hudd was fading.
Lennon 7 - Good game today, though sadly much of it in coverage.
Dempsey 6 - wrong position first-half given the players available/team on the pitch, much better second-half when swapped with Sig.
Sigurdsson 6 - hopelessly gun shy in the first half, very frozen performance. Much better second-half but I still expect more and hope he can deliver one day.
Defoe 7.5 - thought he was really really good today.
Livermore 5.5 - not one of his better cameos TBF.
Ade 6 - looked alarmingly forlone, rusty semi-disintersted by the end.
Walker 5 - Really bizarre this season with regards to his poor relationship with his immediate CB, and today we saw it ruthlessly exposed. Great effort, great determination but something's not right with his comprehension of 'the system'. I think he really misses Younes.
Gallas 5 - One of 'mad' games. From the poor defensive header to Cahill and the booking, he was just bonkers/getting caught often in tandem with Walker.
Caulker 6 - Strong, determined, fairly solid.
Vertonghen 7.5 - Would've been a 9 for me had he not stopped playing to the whistle and half-trudged back in the lead up to their equalizer. His almost-routine goal-saving tackle was epic, and he is a wonderful player overall.
Sandro 7 - Strong and put in a very very tough shift.
Hudd 6 - If only he could get enough stamina to play 90 mins. he was the covering player in the lead-up to equalizer and his fatigue showed as he failed to close down; AVB had been warming Livermore up knowing Hudd was fading.
Lennon 7 - Good game today, though sadly much of it in coverage.
Dempsey 6 - wrong position first-half given the players available/team on the pitch, much better second-half when swapped with Sig.
Sigurdsson 6 - hopelessly gun shy in the first half, very frozen performance. Much better second-half but I still expect more and hope he can deliver one day.
Defoe 7.5 - thought he was really really good today.
Livermore 5.5 - not one of his better cameos TBF.
Ade 6 - looked alarmingly forlone, rusty semi-disintersted by the end.
SUIYHA
Scott Parker
Bale = fast, left footed winger who will run with ball down the wing, take on the full-back and get in crosses
Towsend = fast, left footed winger who will run with the ball down the wing, take on the full-back and get in crosses
That's like for like.
Bale = fast, left footed winger who will run with ball down the wing, take on the full-back and get in crosses
Dempsey = Slow, right footed central midfielder who will slow play down and cut inside if he gets the ball out wide
That's not.
NaijaSpurs
Rafael Van Der Vaart
Agree 100 percent. If we do not play Townsend when Bale is unavailable then what is the point of having him in the squad?
thfcsteff
Terry Dyson
The caveat is that perhaps against Chelski, the thought was that Townsend simply wouldn't be match-experienced/aware enough to cover properly. That first-half saw Chelksi break fast many times, but we got men behind the ball at breakneck speed. I think if we'd been playing, say, Reading, you might've seen it happen.
Townsend for the last twenty was a cert for me, lots of energy and very direct, might have saved a lost cause.
Pirate55
The Last Man Standing 17/18
Generally agree, but Ade was well below a 6 as your comments indicate!!
Pirate55
The Last Man Standing 17/18
Good call. May well have inspired us like Lennon's cameo roles early in his career often used to.
Kingdawson
Banned
Gallas was at fault for one goal and that was the third. Nobody could have headed the ball any better considering the angle he was in for Chelski's first and nobody could have cleared it better considering the angle he was in for their second. The third was his fault for sure as he should have never got caught out with that type of through ball but first and second i can't blame him (just watch Vertonghen for the second ffs...that was criminal).
Jurgen the German
Tommy Harmer
The first goal was partly his fault at least as it was his poor header, you don't head the ball back into the middle of the box and into danger, you try and head it towards the touchline. But think it was Walker standing next to him possibly could have given him a shout and told him to leave it as he was in a better position.
Pirate55
The Last Man Standing 17/18
Gallas was definitely at fault for the first goal. A defender should never ever ever head it back into the middle of the penalty area. No excuses whatsoever.
For the equaliser, Gallas again cleared it only to the edge of the penalty area. A fatal mistake for any defender.
IMV it was Sandro++ who was at fault for the third goal. Mata was his man and he stopped tracking him.
++just watched it again on MotD and it was Livermore who left him not Sandro. Apologies
Last edited:
SteveAWOL
Colin Calderwood
Pretty much sums up my feeling on the games too.
thfcsteff
Terry Dyson
I'll go one further. Townshend and Ade once we went 2-1 up would've been good too. I was answering the original question about why he didn't start the match.
thfcsteff
Terry Dyson
Love Verts, thought he was really really good today BUT agree 100%. Hopefully he will learn from that. It was the only time he personally allowed his focus to wane, and we paid.
Pirate55
The Last Man Standing 17/18
I agree too - but I think he believed Huddlestone was covering for him. Doesnt excuse his laxness though.
Pirate55
The Last Man Standing 17/18
It would be nice to see us go on the front foot for a change to see out games. It seems to go against AVB's philosophy though so I can see him doing anything as reactionary as that!!
It still really bugs me that we bring all 11 men back to defend corners and freekicks. Doesnt leave us with any outlet and only invites more pressure. Suicidal if you ask me.
A point on gallas clearance for Maa equaliser. With hindsight it would have been better to concede a corner rather than try and clear it out from that position.