Despite beating Chelsea 5-3 at White Hart Lane last season, Dier admits Tottenham’s young team were given a lesson in what it takes to be winners in the Wembley final, which they have taken into this campaign, in which they are 10 points ahead of Jose Mourinho’s struggling team. Big clubs cope with hard moments and try to build again, to have good moments again.
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It would also be another near-fatal blow to Chelsea’s own chances of finishing in the top four this season, and plunge the club back into crisis, so it is little wonder Mourinho is conspicuously amping up the mental tension for Tottenham’s players in his own way. It depends on the club, the club’s needs, it depends on many factors. Rewind 12 months and Chelsea were odds-on to win this identical fixture at White Hart Lane. No wonder Jose Mourinho looks so grouchy.
Chelsea will have to play better than they have all season to win at Spurs and Mourinho can only hope that he and Chelsea are through the worst of it.
“I am not saying Papy Djilobodji is ready because he did not have chances to play and his is a different situation, but Zouma and Cahill are both ready and if John doesn’t play, I go with them”.
“I like good interviews. And good players, which they have, and the conditions too”. Chelsea’s return from Israel was only marginally shorter, but the Blues had an extra 48 hours to prepare, as they played on Tuesday.
Incidentally, Tottenham have been well backed for the Premier League title in recent weeks and we’ve cut them from 33/1 to 16/1. They are in the Europa League, in the group phase, and no one cares about that at this stage. But the short turnaround from playing in Azerbaijan on Thursday night to competing in a London derby at midday on Sunday is, manager Mauricio Pochettino has conceded, hardly ideal preparation.
With a top four place very much up for grabs as well, a win against their rivals could provide a big boost for the side in their efforts to achieve that aim. “The objective is gone now”.
“This was a good win for our mentality, we showed maturity and it was a strong performance”. We need to eat well, sleep well, recover and do the right things.
The Portuguese manager began his post-match press conference by asking journalists for a calculator so he could figure out what Chelsea would have to do to qualify for the last 16.
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Veteran striker Didier Drogba says the travel involved in Major League Soccer makes it tougher than the English Premier League.
