Sometimes tactical analysis can tell you exactly where a game was won and lost. This was not one of those games.
Nonetheless, here’s a breakdown of how the match was shaping up before fortune and individual error swung everything in Chelsea’s favour.
Blues boss Jose Mourinho came into this game with freshness very in his mind. He dropped Oscar and initially gave the no.10 role to Eden Hazard. He flanked him with Ramires and Andre Schurrle – these two players were necessary to run in behind the Tottenham defence. They both can really fly in longer foot races with defenders.
Frank Lampard was also added alongside Nemanja Matic in midfield because he was fresh having played no part in England’s win over Denmark.
The original teamsheet included another fresh player Fernando Torres, who also suited Mourinho’s grand plan of running in behind Spurs’ high defensive line Mourinho had for the game. The Special One had to do without the Spaniard though as he picked an injury during the warm-up, so Samuel Eto’o had to cover for him.
Tim Sherwood went with a strange team, including Aaron Lennon up top with Emmanuel Adebayor to try to stretch Chelsea’s defence and expose its lack of pace.
Kyle Walker had a right wing position – obviously to double-up on Hazard and curb Cesar Azpilicueta’s runs. Gylfi Sigurdsson was then was given the left flank. This was their outlet flank and he spent much of the first-half cutting in from advanced positions.
Sherwood’s team selection was also influenced by Paulinho’s involvement for Brazil in South Africa on Wednesday.
The first half belonged to Spurs; they had better possession, they kept Chelsea in their own half and they constantly switched the ball, using their full-backs to stretch Chelsea’s defence. They also played quality diagonal balls to Emmanuel Adebayor and let players near him pick up the pieces.
Mourinho quickly restored Hazard to his regular left-wing position. Both teams cancelled each other though as Chelsea kept their shape well but lacked the quality to keep possession in the final third.
The Special One pulled another special substitution. He took Frank Lampard off and replaced him with Oscar. Ramires joined Matic in midfield to add more mobility in the middle of the park. Oscar had all the tools that were needed to change this game: he works so hard high up looking for the ball, he is excellent when receiving the ball deep, knocking it in wide areas then offering passing angles.
Consequently, Chelsea started to press high up, their link-up play improved and they forced errors from Spurs.
Those Spurs mistakes came like dominoes. When Sherwood lost Younes Kaboul to a sending off while trailing 2-0, he had to hang for a respectable defeat.
He tried to form two banks of fours and let Adebayor roam alone up front, but there was little he could do to account for the errors. His captain Michael Dawson picked up an injury, so he had to move Jan Vertonghen across to the centre-back position and let Zeki Fryers come in at left-back position.
After previous humbling defeats against Liverpool and Manchester City, Tottenham should really be asking serious questions of themselves.
Sherwood might wonder if there was anything he could have done after Oscar came on, especially after such a good first half.
Luck alone cannot explain so many errors from professional players in just one half of a game.
