Wembley outing will be tough for Spurs

admin

So, that’s one ‘cup final’ lost this week; now onto the next. It will be a much-changed line-up against Chelsea from Thursday night, and hopefully a much-changed performance.

If Spurs, as expected, lose on Sunday, the excuses are already lined up. We’ve played twice since Chelsea last kicked a ball, had an away European fixture just three days before and are playing a team with a far bigger budget. I truly hope the players don’t enter the game with this mindset. It’s Mauricio Pochettino’s job to ensure they don’t.

Spurs are, of course, pinning their hopes on Christian Eriksen and Harry Kane to produce when it matters most; as they have often-times this season. It can be pretty much guaranteed that Spurs won’t keep a clean sheet, so we’ll need to be Hot Shot Tottenham in front of goal.

Much of the Spurs line-up picks itself. The only probable doubts are who will play with Eriksen behind Kane. I’d go for our pacier players and pick Andros Townsend and Nacer Chadli. I suspect Erik Lamela will play, though. If he does, Sunday will be a good time to start to begin to justify the £30 million we splashed out for him.

Our pressing and quick turnover game worked well on the fairly small White Hart Lane pitch against Chelsea over Christmas – it will be much harder to produce this on the bigger Wembley turf. Player-for-player Chelsea are better, so we’ll need to out work them and, if possible, spring some tactical surprises.

If it’s the Spurs who beat Chelsea 5-3 at home we’ll stand a decent chance. If it’s the Spurs who lost 3-0 at Chelsea in the league we’ll probably get thrashed. My hunch is that it will be something in the middle – which won’t be enough.

Follow @FanZone on Twitter for links to all the latestt blogs.

Wembley outing will be tough for Spurs

admin

So, that’s one ‘cup final’ lost this week; now onto the next. It will be a much-changed line-up against Chelsea from Thursday night, and hopefully a much-changed performance.

If Spurs, as expected, lose on Sunday, the excuses are already lined up. We’ve played twice since Chelsea last kicked a ball, had an away European fixture just three days before and are playing a team with a far bigger budget. I truly hope the players don’t enter the game with this mindset. It’s Mauricio Pochettino’s job to ensure they don’t.

Spurs are, of course, pinning their hopes on Christian Eriksen and Harry Kane to produce when it matters most; as they have often-times this season. It can be pretty much guaranteed that Spurs won’t keep a clean sheet, so we’ll need to be Hot Shot Tottenham in front of goal.

Much of the Spurs line-up picks itself. The only probable doubts are who will play with Eriksen behind Kane. I’d go for our pacier players and pick Andros Townsend and Nacer Chadli. I suspect Erik Lamela will play, though. If he does, Sunday will be a good time to start to begin to justify the £30 million we splashed out for him.

Our pressing and quick turnover game worked well on the fairly small White Hart Lane pitch against Chelsea over Christmas – it will be much harder to produce this on the bigger Wembley turf. Player-for-player Chelsea are better, so we’ll need to out work them and, if possible, spring some tactical surprises.

If it’s the Spurs who beat Chelsea 5-3 at home we’ll stand a decent chance. If it’s the Spurs who lost 3-0 at Chelsea in the league we’ll probably get thrashed. My hunch is that it will be something in the middle – which won’t be enough.

Follow @FanZone on Twitter for links to all the latestt blogs.

Wembley outing will be tough for Spurs

admin

So, that’s one ‘cup final’ lost this week; now onto the next. It will be a much-changed line-up against Chelsea from Thursday night, and hopefully a much-changed performance.

If Spurs, as expected, lose on Sunday, the excuses are already lined up. We’ve played twice since Chelsea last kicked a ball, had an away European fixture just three days before and are playing a team with a far bigger budget. I truly hope the players don’t enter the game with this mindset. It’s Mauricio Pochettino’s job to ensure they don’t.

Spurs are, of course, pinning their hopes on Christian Eriksen and Harry Kane to produce when it matters most; as they have often-times this season. It can be pretty much guaranteed that Spurs won’t keep a clean sheet, so we’ll need to be Hot Shot Tottenham in front of goal.

Much of the Spurs line-up picks itself. The only probable doubts are who will play with Eriksen behind Kane. I’d go for our pacier players and pick Andros Townsend and Nacer Chadli. I suspect Erik Lamela will play, though. If he does, Sunday will be a good time to start to begin to justify the £30 million we splashed out for him.

Our pressing and quick turnover game worked well on the fairly small White Hart Lane pitch against Chelsea over Christmas – it will be much harder to produce this on the bigger Wembley turf. Player-for-player Chelsea are better, so we’ll need to out work them and, if possible, spring some tactical surprises.

If it’s the Spurs who beat Chelsea 5-3 at home we’ll stand a decent chance. If it’s the Spurs who lost 3-0 at Chelsea in the league we’ll probably get thrashed. My hunch is that it will be something in the middle – which won’t be enough.

Follow @FanZone on Twitter for links to all the latestt blogs.