Can Tottenham crack the top four this season?

Andre Villas Boas and his Spurs might have lost to Chelsea in the London derby, but the character and fighting spirit showed by a vibrant Tottenham side was a good indication for the future. Chelsea’s star man of the day Juan Mata admitted that the ’score-line was flattering’ as the game was a rollercoaster ride in which defensive mistakes lead to a brilliant Chelsea win. Home losses are something which the fans cannot digest and the away fans asked the imminent question – Andre, What’s the score?

This is all part and parcel of this beautiful game and without this banter, the game will lose its sheer brilliance.

Should Tottenham worry about the performance? Is it time to click the panic button? It’s not necessary at all. Spurs were without 4 or 5 regulars for this high volume game, arguably against the most dangerous side in EPL this season. Even in the absence of Bale, Dembele, Kaboul, Assou-Ekotto and Parker, the team fought it out till the final whistle.

The classy trio of Hazard, Mata and Oscar didn’t run away with the game as the fans feared when they saw the starting line-up. Even-though Spurs started on back foot, they slowly picked up the pace and matched the opponents industry in more than one way.

Spurs captain and MOTM against Manchester United, William Gallas had a catastrophic day on the field. Last season’s Premier League young player of the year, Kyle Walker made a disastrous mistake towards the end of the game. Till that moment of madness, Spurs were in the game. They went down first, but came back strongly to gain the initiative. Again, they were pegged back due calamitous defending, but still they didn’t give up.

All four Chelsea goals were due to defensive mistakes, especially the 1^st and 2^nd due to a poor headed clearance back into the danger zone by Gallas  and the 4^th due to a moment of madness from Walker. A brave effort from AVB and his men were thrown to the lions, due to defensive errors in a crucial game.

Tottenham asked plenty of questions of the Chelsea defence, which possesses the meanest record this year, the same defence which shutdown European powerhouses Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

Spurs had created the same number of chances or more in this game as their opposition, but it was poor finishing that came to Chelsea’s rescue as a number of shots went straight into safe hands of Petr Cech and some were wide of the mark. Spurs attackers couldn’t produce the killer punch when the opportunity arrived and that was the crucial difference in this game.

Spurs’ midfield lacked the fluidity in the absence of Dembele and Bale; yet still they did their job without much fuss. Huddlestone is getting back to match fitness. Livermore lacks the creative vision to make the difference in big games. Once Parker and Livermore regain full fitness along with Dembele, AVB will have to answer different sort of questions. Huddlestone, Sigurdsson and Dempsey need to find their top form as well.

AVB is keeping things interesting on the goal keeping front, by restoring Friedel to his starting line-up. Friedel didn’t do much wrong with Chelsea’s goals, but overall one might have felt that Lloris could have done better. We noticed Walker having a go at Freidel for being rooted at the post during one of Chelsea’s raids which Lloris could have been off in a flash to make the ball his own.

In general, Tottenham didn’t display their game for the full 90 minutes which is the reason behind their downfall. They were brilliant in patches – pressing high up on the pitch and creating one chance after the other, but they couldn’t sustain the momentum and pressure for the entire game. Spurs are playing better in away games, as they are sticking to the game plan and countering the opposition with ease. But in home games they lack the ideas and sometimes they becomes too pedestrian.

Tottenham have shown their ability to compete with the best teams in EPL, but they need to sustain the momentum and pressure for greater periods to match their ambitions. There are 30 more games ahead of Spurs and with the kind of players in their armoury, they can bounce back immediately from adversity. From the outlook of things, that isn’t far away and the Spurs fans will be hoping beyond that means they can crack the top four.

For more from Joseph find him on Twitter: @jogeo23

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