Why is that we find it so difficult to hold on to a lead nowadays? Is this a new thing that we have acquired? I’m getting sick of seeing us lose leads and momentum with such consistency. We were 3-1 at the 55 mins, we had 5 defenders from the 70th minute and Spurs score two goals and should have won the match in the end!

AG started with a strong team which meant he needed the three points and is taking one game at a time. The core of the team has been playing too many matches in quick succession and have taken too many disappointments to have a good morale. The reason why I think AG always starts with a very strong line-up is that he may not enough confidence in his own abilities to change the course of the match with his subs and tactics later on.

Ok Roman! 8 goals in a match; I understand this is what you want. Watch the video, hope you like it. For a match filled with goals, the match lacked quality, at least from our side. Yes there were attacks on either sides but there were also number of defensive errors, poor tactics and substitutions on our side. The first goal was a superb goal by Drogba which seemed like a training ground plan. Any guesses why Drogba was looking for Steve Clarke and went running to him to celebrate the goal? Woodgate then scored a brilliant header rising above everyone which was quite easy for him especially as he was not marked well. At around 20 mins, Joe Cole made a smart pass to Essien, who finished it brilliantly. We were very lucky to get away with this goal as it must have been disallowed as Drogba (man in active play) was in an offside position when the ball was played. Ashley Cole got fortunate with just a yellow card for a terrible foul on Hutton. I just wonder what would have been score if we were playing with 10 men in the second half. The first half finished with advantage to Chelsea.

Spurs started the second half strongly but it was Joe Cole who found the net, the ball deflecting from Robinson’s foot and looping to the back of the net. 3-1 at the 52nd minute. Unless your team is bloody complacent, a two goal lead for 38 minutes must be a pleasure to defend. Another cross, another goal for Spurs. AG makes his customary delayed substitution and brings on a defender. Once we get 5 defenders Spurs score again with a shot from within the box. Joe Cole to our rescue again, we lead again in the 80th minute. Ballack comes in for Joe Cole, who was going good for another goal or assist. Now, at 4-3 we need to hold on for 10 minutes but wait a moment, make it 4-4 while AG threatening us with bringing on SWP. Thanks to a Carvalho blunder, Robbie Keane scores an amazing goal which is worth to be the last equaliser of a 4-4 match. Hey, if think it was over, Berbatov gets a one-on-one which he would finish 9/10 times and this one happened to be the 1/10. If Spurs had got the fifth goal, it would have been a deserved win for them. I could not have taken anything away from them. So we led three times in this match and picked up one valuable point.

Despite scoring those goals and leading Spurs thrice, I was always feeling that Spurs had the upper hand. They were very committed in their attack and in defence. They knew what was to be done and they at times failed only in the execution of what they knew had to be done. Whereas Chelsea were shaky in defence, scampering for clearances, not knowing where colleagues are and communicating poorly among themselves. Our attacks were orchestrated by only one man – Joe Cole. He was magnificent today but he did conceale some of our shortcomings in the process. Only Joey had the pitch awareness to set up attacks while Drogba was waiting for service, Lampard, Kalou and Essien was not very much involved in the proceedings.

After more than a decade of football coaching why AG is not able to make decent substitutions with the talent at his disposal, I won’t able to answer. I’ve noticed this thing with him. If he wants to hold on to a lead, he brings in more defenders. If he wants more goals, he brings in more strikers. His theory seems to be ‘more defenders = less goals & more strikers = more goals’. It’s not as simple as that. We had a nice time with our friends in live match chat at BC Shout. I’d like to quote this hilarious line from Arun: “Now Avram will bring Hilario For Drogba , Two goalkeepers :)”. I don’t understand why Joe Cole was subbed. He was our best player tonight. When Joe Cole left, Ramos must have realised that their biggest threat is gone and they attacked more freely.

Interestingly, Avram Grant has answered to the question in the title of this post.

It’s very disappointing, we come with so many positives from this game but we didn’t win, it’s very disappointing when we lead 1-0, 3-1, then conceded goals from corners and a free-kick, and then a big mistake and Robbie Keane scored a fantastic goal. I think one of ours strengths is we defend well at corners and free-kicks, but in the last two games Tottenham scored against us six goals, five from set pieces. I don’t know how to explain this; it’s more than unusual for us.

It’s absolutely no surprise for me that he doesn’t know how to explain it. He won’t realise the problem and even if he does, he won’t know how to fix it. And see below how AG answers his critics off the pitch.

Every game in which we drop points is a big game. If we won would it have been a big game? We lost against Barnsley and it became a big game. Every game we drop points is a big game. I can be happy only that, in the league, we haven’t dropped that many points, otherwise there would have been more big games. Every game here is big. If we didn’t win we wouldn’t be in this position. What is a critical game? Every game at Chelsea is critical. If we’d lost other games, we wouldn’t be in this position. Every game we win is a normal game. Every time we drop points is a big game.

My definition of ‘big games’ for AG’s benefit – “Big games are any games against Man United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Everton, Portsmouth, Tottenham, Villa and European powerhouses, any game in a knockout round of any tournament, any games which have a huge impact on our title charge”. Can someone please send this across to him?

He says “we lost against Barnsley and it became a big game”. Do you need anymore proof?

I’ve had enough of Avram Grant. Let’s give him to some club that we hate. I’m putting up a price of 10 million pounds, we will pay that is. AG has proved to me more than a dozen times that he does not belong here. He lacks ideas, lacks passion and by looks of it lacks knowledge and I know should seriously question the quality of his famous experience too. Despite all my lack of belief in Grant, I still believe like a fool that we can win the title and AG gives me a kick in the ass to remind me that he is just a director of football who got his lotto late in his career. I would take any premier league manager for Grant. Give me Paul Jewell, take Grant away please.

When we take a lead, especially a two goal lead, what would you expect. Reduce the tempo a bit and pass around, make the opposition work hard to get the ball. You can tactically turn off your opponent and tell him ‘sorry, the match’s over’. That will wear them down, physically and mentally. Even when we were 3-1 up, we were still playing as if we were 1-3 down. I don’t understand this. If this attacking football, I don’t need this. This is dumb, plain dum isn’t it? Look at the big picture – we play Arsenal on saturday, we need to win today and we have just 8 matches to go after this. Man Utd has taken a 2-0 lead against Bolton and we lead Spurs 3-1 with 35 mins to go. What would be intelligent football here? I was always proud of my Chelsea players that they are an intelligent bunch of footballers, who don’t think just about that pass, they play with a vision. The vision is not to find a player in space, the vision of winning this match and vision of accumulating wins and marching towards the trophies. They played brilliant football that way. Now, either they do not have a vision or do not share the same vision.

Is this the end of our title race? No, I don’t think so. We should now hope for Man Utd or Arsenal to drop some cheap points like we do. Knowing that Grant’s strong point of his CV is loads of luck, I would not rule out anything unless we lose three matches in succession or something. The thing is, now the 6-1 smashing of Derby looks like a fake. Beating the worst team of the leagu by a 5-goal margin is nothing if you can win the match with a 2-goal lead for 35 mins against a mid-table team (yes they are now). Arsenal next. Can we beat them? Emphatic YES. Will we beat them? I don’t know but I think we will lead them.