ostrov » 31 дек 2014, 20:40
Завтра начинается второй круг чемпионата.
Can it be a Happy New Year please?
So, we start the second half of the league programme on New Year's Day, and it couldn't be worse opposition, because our Premier League record against Chelsea is simply appalling.
Every year, at least when we face them at home, we look for solace and encouragement in recent results. This year is no different. Tomorrow's game is being televised by BT Sport, and the corresponding game in September 2013 last season, was also on the BT channel. With AVB at the helm, the Chelsea game was our tenth of the season, and we had won 8 of those, all with clean sheets. the only defeat had come at The Emirates, and then by 1-0.
Gylfi Sigurdsson had put Spurs in the lead with a neatly taken goal, and despite John Terry's second half equaliser, Spurs were top of the table, albeit briefly. We had hopes of battling for a top four place alongside Chelsea. That was not to be.
Our last league defeat was at Stamford Bridge a month ago. In the following game Jose Mourinho's side actually lost (for the only time this season in any competition) at Newcastle. They've hardly looked back since, although Southampton held them back on Sunday.
Spurs have never played Chelsea on New Year's Day, but there have been two meetings on 2nd January. 100 years ago, the Football League programme continued, despite the onset of war, and the two teams fought out a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge. The Spurs goal was scored by Bert Middlemiss, who spent most of his career at Tottenham, scoring 53 goals in a total of 261 games between 1908 and 1920
More recently, in 1988, we again met on 2nd January at Stamford Bridge, and this was a 0-0 draw. (We had also played a game, in which we beat Watford 2-1 on New Year's Day) The Chelsea side featured Gordon Durie and Clive Wilson, who would subsequently play for Tottenham. Spurs finished above Chelsea that season, and in fact Chelsea were relegated through a play-off system as the Football League sought to reduce their numbers. An interesting Middlesbrough blog tells the story of their play-off final against Chelsea, including an account of the pitch invasion that gave Chelsea disciplinary problems. That was Chelsea's last relegation, and they did gain promotion the next season.
Until the 96-97 season, we used to finish above Chelsea regularly, but that didn't happen again until 2012. We all know what happened then. We were the first team to get nothing for finishing fourth (apart from a Europa league place).
Can it be a Happy New Year for Tottenham? If we play as we did in the second half against Man Utd, then perhaps we can succeed in breaking up the Chelsea pattern of play, and get a result. A draw would be another positive before embarking upon three "winnable" games in the Premier League later this month.
Neither team has any significant injuries, although Oscar for Chelsea, and Bentaleb for Spurs have had "an illness". Bentaleb has trained today, and could return next to Mason. Kyle Walker will probably return at right back. It remains to be seen whether Pochettino has a master plan for this game. I'm afraid I have been pessimistic and predicted defeat, although I do wish all readers a very Happy, healthy and prosperous 2015!
Tomorrow's match referee is Phil Dowd. Hopefully, he won't suffer an injury and allow the fourth official Andre Marriner to come on. Mr. Marriner has a history of inventing goals for Chelsea!
· On New Year's Day 2005 Spurs beat Everton 5-2. Dean Marney scored two.
"We are always confident because we trust our players, and we never give up,"--- said boss Mauricio Pochettino.