Spurs Put Chelsea To The Sword In a Solid Performance to Secure 4th Place.

It is the fixture that Spurs fans hate. Chelsea. Not only are we arch rivals (Some Spurs supporters including myself would dislike Chelsea much more than Arsenal) but they are also our bogey team. They always beat us both home and away so the record against them is dismal. So when I looked up the fixture list this weekend I did not hold out much hope with the tie. Chelsea are closer to relegation than 4th place but this does not matter. They will always be up for a Tottenham game. It is the reason Doctor Tottenham has been trending all week on Twitter. I do find this slag very funny because it is true. When ever any team is having a bad run . they play Tottenham and we make it all better again so this is the reason for Doctor Tottenham. Well we changed things yesterday and I think Tottenham put the final nail in Potters coffin. Conte was not there to witness it. His assistant Stellini has 100% record still. Marseille, West Ham, Man City and now Chelsea. Not a bad 100% record right there. Some fans are even saying if Conte goes we could do alot worse than give Stellini the job. A number of footballs fans think Contes presence on the touchline barking out orders has a negative effect on the teams performance. Maybe they are right. Stellini is much more reserved.

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The team against Chelsea was the same team as last week with the notable absence of Son and with Davis at left wing back. Is Davis our best wing back now after being man of the match in the game last week against West Ham. I would say yes as he is alot more active than Peresic who needed a rest. Sessegnon's crossing is atrocious. So have we stumbled on the answer when it was right under our noses. Maybe. Davis always gets dogs abuse from Spurs supporters claiming he is no good enough but he always gives 100% and I think he is underrated personally. Richarlison kept his place. Even though he has not scored a Premiership goal as of yet, he throws his weight around and is not knocked off the ball as much as Sonny. An attribute needed for the rough and tumble derby against Chelsea in which Richarlison revelled.

Chelsea went back to the older line up with Sterling, Havertz playing as a make shift number 9. It's strange that Chelsea spent all that money and Aubamyang is still their only number 9 in their squad. Clearly he is not fancied after a couple of disaster classes lately. They started well but Spurs were never under pressure. There was a scuffle just before half time where Hakim Ziyech was sent off but this was rescinded once VAR produced another angle that showed that the punch was more of a shove to the shoulder rather than a punch in the face which was fair enough.
Just after half time Spurs had a chance which was scuffled away by Kepa who should have done better. Skipp obtained the ball at the edge of the area and rocketed into the top centre of the goal. Koubally looked to be in the keepers line of vision so when the ball swerved he saw it too late. Tottenham 1 up. Shortly after who else but Kane equalised from a corner. Chelsea's zonal marking meant that Sterling left Kane off from the 6 year box. Kane nibbed in at the far post and made it 2- nil. Potter looked dejected on the side line and looked on as Chelsea could not offer up anything as a fightback. He introduced the luxury player than is Mason Mount who threw his weight around and wasn't bad but Spurs were not troubled.

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Richarlison came off for Son and he was not happy as he was looking for that goal. Porro came on for Kuluevski and Spurs dominated until the end. The Tottenham keeper Frasier Forste didn't put a foot wrong which raised a couple of more talking points around how Hugo would have handled a couple of the crosses put in.

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Overall it was a great result for Tottenham who have 45 points. 4 points ahead of Newcastle (who have Man City next week as their game in hand.) 4 points from 3rd place United who are flying it. 10 points off the best team in the world and 12 points off the mob down the road. Not bad for a disaster of a season and not playing well. Spurs are grinding out results. It's not pretty but we are getting results where in a past life we might not be tough enough to grind them out. Newcastle will fall away. Liverpool are the worry however but looking at them against Palace and Real Madrid. They have big problems at the back and in midfield. They no longer press either so hopefully they will slip up enough to stay away from the top 4 places. So I will be keeping a close eye on them for the rest of the season.

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Spurs have Sheffield United in the cup on Wednesday, a game in which Conte will be at I imagine. Spurs should be fielding a couple of the reserve team in this match. It should be a good game for Sonny and Pedro Porro to find his feet. I can see Lucas Moura featuring in this one as well so it will be a much changed line up. Wolves then the weekend and then AC Milan at home next Wednesday in the second leg of the Champions League. Spurs need to overcome a 1 nil deficit but they are at home so I see them doing this. The only problem us Milan had the low block going in the first leg. So you can imagine their low block away from home with a 1 nil lead. Spurs need to break them down and this is where Spurs are weak. Tottenham love a team that attacks. They love to be one nil up and having a side come at them. AC Milan will not and this could be an issue. But I do think we have enough fire power to break them down but you never know. It looks like Liverpool are going out in this stage of the Champions League. If we do get to the last 8 then I would be very happy indeed and who knows, if we get Man City , we could go on further 😁. But Milan are the stumbling block and we have to start on the front foot. Something that Conte is not famous for. It will be an interesting couple of weeks for Tottenham.

There was an article on the Athletic this week around if Conte and Potter just swapped jobs. Conte needs money which Chelsea have. Potter likes working with young players which Tottenham have. Potter was on the shortlist last year but refused to take the role. It was a really interesting article and it did actually make alot of sense. However I think Antonio has his heart set on Juventus next year and to be back home with his wife and daughter. Who knows what will happen but the writing is on the wall that he is leaving.