Tottenham 5-3 Chelsea; Post-Match Reaction

The actual reaction to the match itself will be quite short: Kane good, Chadli good, Hazard good, Costa good, Tottenham defence bad, Chelsea defence worse. Phil Dowd for once had a decent game, and while Jose Mourinho may have blamed the loss on him not giving a penalty for a Jan Vertonghen potential-handball, even I say the decision was a correct one. However, so many players had shocking games: Matic, Fabregas, JT, Oscar, Willian, Ramires… even Jose didn’t have the best day with his subs. but two in particular stood out, and have done so for a while (and not in a good way).

Those of us who follow many Chelsea fans on Twitter will know that there are two players who are popular scapegoats when anything goes wrong defensively. And until today, I had tried my best not to blame them for everything as others do, and thought some of the criticism was harsh. But more and more this winter, as our form (especially away from home) has dipped and dipped, I’ve been agreeing with the angry mob more and more. Today’s performance was the catalyst, I now wholeheartedly agree with who is to blame for this poor defensive display: Gary Cahill and Branislav Ivanovic.

Now, I have to say, I love both these guys. “Two goal” Branislav is a hero, be it from that game at Anfield, to the Napoli game where he scored the winner, to the winner in Amsterdam. The same with Gary Cahill, who was instrumental in the win in Munich. But the numbers don’t lie. 12 from 19 league goals conceded this season have come from the Right side of our defence, where Cahill at RCB and Ivanovic at RB usually play; this includes all four of the open-play goals today, plus the conceeding of the penalty.

Cahill was run ragged by Harry Kane today, and couldn’t keep up with him. But, in the partnership with Terry, it his job to chase the youthful pacey stiker, as he’s supposedly got more legs on him than the 34 year old veteran. But in recent months, the quality positioning that had personified his great partnership with JT in 2013/14 has disappeared, and he’s seemingly making more and more rash decisions. However, often, he luckily manages to rectify it by coming to rescue the day with a last ditch tackle or block. However tonight, this just didn’t happen, and it brought all his faults to the fore.

Source: tottenhamhotspur.com

Branislav Ivanovic is another kettle of fish. Being used as a wing back in the last two seasons, his crossing ability, or rather inability, has been a sticking point for Chelsea fans for a while. Especially seeing as Azpilicueta has been forged from the attacking right wing back Ivanovic wants to be, into the defensive left back that currently gets lauded. However, after his ball has either failed to beat the last man, or beaten every man and been picked up by a defender past the far post, it’s Brani’s inability to get back in time which has been a worry. And even when he stays back he’s started to struggle with the defensive side of things. So what can be done by Jose?

Well, as a start, I would drop Ivanovic and return Azpilicueta to his natural right flank. Seeing as we’re highly dependant on the left flank (ie Hazard) for goals, so to have Azpilicueta’s crosses on his right foot, which whilst oft not seen in the past year or so, are rather good. Also, it gives our £15.8 million summer signing to have a run of games for the first time since he joined. Granted, Filipe Luis wasn’t great against Southampton, but he hasn’t been given enough of a chance, compared to Cahill/Ivanovic who are first team regulars despite repeated poor displays. If Luis doesn’t play so well after given his chance, at the end of the season, Bertrand could return to his parent club after a superb loan spell (so far at least) for Southampton.

On the problem of Cahill, slightly more might need to be done. On the one hand, and probably more short term basis, there’s the dropping of Cahill for Kurt Zouma who, when given chances (and not knocked out by Petr Cech) has looked very comfortble, particularly alongside John Terry. Or, there is what some fans seek in the long term, and the purchase of Raphael Varane from Real Madrid, possibly one of the best defensive prospects on the market, and whom the rumours say would be available for around £25million.

Personally, I would (injuries/suspensions permitting) put my faith in Kurt Zouma and Filipe Luis for the next few games, perhaps to the end of the month, and then give Cahill and Ivanovic a chance to regain their places. Their putting the work in in training in an attempt to regain their places would be welcome, and a competitive edge to squad roatation can never do more harm than good. However, I can see why others would disagree with me, and so if you do, I’d love for you to tell me your thoughts in the comments. Otherwise, here’s to hoping that the Watford game, the rest of the season, and the rest of 2015 don’t go as badly as today.