Tottenham Still Feeling Hangover of Draw with Chelsea
Chelsea vs. Tottenham Hotspur in May still stands untouched as the biggest Premier League match of 2016.
It had everything a great football drama needs. There were well-worked goals and compelling tactical elements, fierce individual battles and thrilling shifts in momentum. The already considerable London derby stakes were all intensified by the knowledge that soon-to-be deposed champions Chelsea would hand former manager Claudio Ranieri's Leicester City side the title by denying Tottenham a win.
They did just that, coming back from two goals down to draw 2-2. Manager Mauricio Pochettino's Spurs side have arguably not yet fully recovered from the disappointment and ramifications of that night.
The two capital clubs meet again at Stamford Bridge this weekend. We may find out whether last season's meeting has taken their rivalry to an even more fractious level or if the vehemence of the springtime scrap was just a product of the circumstances.
What is certain is Tottenham are still figuring out how to recapture the confidence and conviction in their beliefs they entered with.
Looking back via the performances of three of their starters—attacker Heung-Min Son, goalkeeper Hugo Lloris and defensive midfielder Eric Dier—it is fascinating to see again what did and did not work for Spurs in one of their most important games in recent times; even more so in the context of what has followed since in the opening months of 2016-17.
Those three players were not the only ones on their team significantly involved that night. Indeed, Son was replaced shortly after the hour mark and Lloris went unoccupied for long stretches of the contest.
But in their distinct involvements, each well represents different aspects of Tottenham's play as they were suddenly transitioning back to a place where they have plenty to prove again.
Overshadowed
Son's bright start to the new campaign was greeted by surprise in some quarters. The general, incorrect perception of the South Korea international's first season was that he had completely flattered to deceive.
While he had issues with consistency, there were plenty of examples backing Tottenham's judgement in signing him. The Chelsea game was one such piece of evidence.
The nuanced take that would more accurately represent Son's maiden Premier League efforts could also apply to the night at Stamford Bridge.
In its immediate aftermath, Spurs losing their lead and their emotional, somewhat violent engagement of Chelsea at various stages were the big takeaways. Since then, the latter especially has become the defining memory of the night their title dreams truly ended.
Yet, for the first half especially, Pochettino's men played rather well.
With Dele Alli suspended after a clash with West Bromwich Albion's Claudia Jacob a week earlier (a sign of things to come), Son joined Christian Eriksen and Erik Lamela in supporting Harry Kane. He impressed as much as anyone.
The attacking midfielder joined his team-mates in looking to harass Chelsea right from the first minute. He did not shirk defensive responsibilities either, getting back to tackle Nemanja Matic at one point and later on helping to recover an intercepted pass of his own.
Son offering himself as an option across the breadth of the Blues' defence was as key as anything in Spurs' eventual scoring. He served as a distraction in the buildup to Kane's opener and, when left relatively alone in the same right-hand channel later, exploited it to good effect making it 2-0 (see below)
It had not been easy finding a way through Chelsea's experienced back line, but Spurs' persistence earned it. Between their all-round patience, smart interchanges and good movement, given the magnitude of the occasion, it was as good as they had been all season.
After the interval, they tired somewhat and also found Chelsea better organised and a little quicker to challenge. Son was replaced in the 65th minute by Ryan Mason as Pochettino unsuccessfully tried to provide better resistance to the game-altering substitute Eden Hazard.
Tottenham had been stifled before then by teams set up to do so (see the 1-1 draw with West Bromwich Albion a week earlier that was particularly damaging to their championship hopes), but getting shut down and cancelled out here perhaps hurt even more. They were good going forward, but it still was not enough.
Pochettino has tinkered with his attack so far this season to mixed success, with Son's return to the starting XI after his Olympic Games participation one such idea. Variation is good, but it can come off as overthinking. Can Spurs get back to looking as natural as they did for much of last season and a good while against Chelsea?
The Waiting Game
Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
Chelsea celebrate in the background as Hugo Lloris reflects on what went wrong for Spurs.
Down the other end, Lloris had the best and worst of it as a goalkeeper.
The nice side was getting to watch his side's controlled and eye-pleasing football give them the lead. Though Chelsea threatened to crack them open, Lloris' defence also left him relatively untroubled in the first half.
The not-so-nice was watching the home side's increasing attacks on his goal after the interval, powerless to do anything but wait for what started to feel like the inevitable breach.
Spurs' defence had been near-enough impeccable all through 2015-16 and, in the Premier League anyway, have begun the new season similarly well. Still, even the best of them cannot completely protect their goalkeeper.
That is fine for the most part—this is their role, after all—but sometimes facing down a particular attack can feel like experiencing a realisation of mortality. Lloris got that looking on helplessly as Hazard at his sumptuous best weaved his way through Spurs' previously sturdy lines and as Diego Costa punished them dropping deep to contest 50-50s and facilitate their advances.
WyScout / Karl Matchett
WyScout / Karl Matchett
Most frustrating for Lloris was the Gary Cahill goal that re-energised most of this (see above). Toby Alderweireld had got lucky letting him go on one occasion in the first half, but here his ball-watching was punished.
Bar their all-round maulings by Monaco, Spurs' biggest problem this season has been maintaining concentration at set pieces. This last match with Chelsea was far from being a new area they needed to address.
Despite all this, as captain and a leader of this young side, Lloris might have felt most impotent in the game's final 10 minutes.
In the Thick of It
GLYN KIRK/Getty Images
Eric Dier is booked as Tottenham's title hopes come crashing down.
If you want to show anyone why Dier was so good in central midfield for Tottenham last season, show them the first half against Chelsea. Although the 22-year-old took a few minutes to get going, conceding a couple of fouls in the process, just about everything was on display from him.
Thereafter Dier was close to his dominant best, intercepting a Pedro pass and helping start a nice Spurs attack at one point, later on stopping a potential Willian break after Lamela lost it.
You had him dropping deep to form a back three with Alderweireldand Jan Vertonghen, allowing the full-backs Danny Rose and Kyle Walker to get up the wings. You also had him getting forward, too, testing Chelsea with searching crosses and forcing them forward on to their heels, too.
Wyscout / Karl Matchett
Wyscout / Karl Matchett
One such moment contributed to Spurs' first goal (see above), his firm pass suddenly prompting the swift gut-punch of Kane's strike to their centre.
Dier had done this all season, but if anything, it was more noticeable beside his below-par central midfield partner Mousa Dembele.
Although it initially came about through a Rose/Willian altercation, it was Dembele's sideline clash with Costa that really contributed to the game moving away from Tottenham (and given the suspension he would get for his eye gouge, one that has been felt since in a stuttering start to the season for both player and team).
It showed that, despite having a two-goal lead, the tension and pressure of the situation was beginning to rile the visitors. Chelsea took advantage
.
Dembele was sluggish offensively and, save getting involved in such disagreements, a passenger defensively, too. Dier tried to compensate for all of this, but with Spurs losing shape and looking leggy, Hazard and others were beginning to bypass them.
The Belgian attacker got between the Spurs midfield pair in the 62nd minute, leading to a Willian chance that Lloris saved well. Just over 10 minutes later, Dier was again left isolated up against him, but they got away with it.
Hazard's equalising goal (2:20 mark on the above video), combining superbly with Costa, was avoidable but at the same time somewhat inevitable. Dier, Dembele and Walker were all easily skipped past and then failed to continue tracking the playmaker as he ran off to collect his striker's ball and lured out Alderweireld.
In that last 10 minutes or so, Dier lost his head. Booked for hacking Hazard, he was perhaps lucky not to get a second yellow card after taking out Cesc Fabregas, too.
Nobody at the time anticipated Tottenham's season would fall apart further, losing their last two games and missing out on second place. The same could be said of the Dembele-Dier duo barely playing together again since.
That has also been a product of injury problems, needs elsewhere in the team (Dier recently playing centre-back) and the good form of others like Victor Wanyama. Chiefly, though, it began with a temper-induced slip from their equal footing and the six-game suspension Dembele suffered for that loss of cool.
The current absence of such a key part of last season's title challenge is but one of the consequences of a game Tottenham can just not quite move away from.
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