***Tottenham Hotspur vs Chelsea***, Premier League, Nov 1st 2025 at White Hart Lane

[Gazza Dazzla]

Can we also pls remember we have beaten them 8 times over 400yrs, with teams better than this and we still come up short.
It's annoying but hey what's new

They simply want it more, 1 offs, whatever, but over such a long period of time when for probably half of it we’ve actually been The better side, to have this record? Instituatioalized apathy for the fixture, unacceptable,

 

[SissokoWasGood (BoL)]

How can you say more refinement wouldn’t have made a difference! It’s like saying us being better wouldn’t have helped

No is, could become. 22. New country. New league. A little bit light weight. Certainly no substitute for a 29 year old with bags of experience. How was Maddison at 22?

Why? Why did we do this? Because we lacked players able to turn with the ball. And those that might are not in a flow and confident.


It takes time to refine and develop a side. There are structural problems. We need to improve midfield and attack. Our attack is all new, and has no consistency. Hopefully Kudus and Muani can be a foundation to build off now. But idk who with - and neither does Frank yet.

I think Frank should try to solidify Sarr in there. I think he could work well with Kudus and Muani. We need a steady team that can gel. And we need t

I actually think Xavi has played at a higher level than Madders did earlier in his career, and proven himself earlier at that standard.

But regardless, I think there’s a world in which our coach has made different decisions which actually get the best out of Xavi, or at the very least better than what we’ve seen. But Xavi has been playing in a team that has no plan in possession, and has to live on scraps and flick ons.

Frank could play a more offensive 4-3-3, with Xavi, Sarr and Palinha in midfield. He could trust the players more in possession. Then we would see players who could turn with the ball and be more confident with it.

I think that what we’re seeing is because Frank is asking for it, it is too obvious and a repeated pattern over a number of games at this point. You can see it in the shape we take up in the first phase, the decisions we make about where to pass. You can see it in the pass maps. What we’re seeing is what is being asked for. I say again and I’m trying to be annoying, but I genuinely don’t know how you refine it.

We could play more through the middle, on the half turn, right now if we wanted. We could use Xavi more in a way that gets the best out of him. We could play Sarr or Bergval deeper. But we’re not. These are choices. And the performances are the consequences of those choices. The results are the consequences of the choices when we aren’t bailed out with our great set piece game.

 

[Kandi1977]

If anyone hasn't watched this yet, it explains really well the issue we have. The midfielders are unwilling and/or incapable of playing the ball FORWARDS. It's just sideways and backwards, and we end up just playing the ball from side to side.

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[thfcsteff]

If anyone hasn't watched this yet, it explains really well the issue we have. The midfielders are unwilling and/or incapable of playing the ball FORWARDS. It's just sideways and backwards, and we end up just playing the ball from side to side.

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...which kills players like Xavi and Kudus...

 

[Kandi1977]

...which kills players like Xavi and Kudus...

Yes, because they only receive the ball in a straight line from the full back, with their back to the goal, and rarely have anyone to play it to, other than back to the full back, who again has no one to play it to, other than sideways to the CB or CM, or back to the GK.

This is the pass map for Bents and Palhinha vs Villa. It's shocking!

 

[parj]

Was thinking about this game a bit more and I think Muani and Kudus actually had good games for their team, just maybe not themselves.

The amount of times they were both getting back and sitting behind the ball, they would have been knackered making runs for no reason, only to just have to run back and defend.

That's a thankless task.

There was no out ball options. Immediately we would be pressed because there was no space. Caceido pressing towards the edge of the area for their goal shows the impact of playing with everyone behind the ball... The opposition press in dangerous areas

 

[parj]

The team should be able to transition and move out with possession.

You want to pin it on the manager. Yet we were losing to the chavs at home under Postecoglou when he was playing more attackers!

I don't blame the manager for losing specifically to Chelsea, but the identity is the manager. We were gung ho Uber Ange, and in bar Everton, in the last 4 or 5 matches we have been submissive - that's the identity TF is imposing