Frank Lampard’s Chelsea defeated Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham comfortably. The managers gave each other the exact Christmas gift the other needed.
No one gave Chelsea much of a chance against Tottenham. At least not the Chelsea of recent weeks that has struggled against everyone in front of them. But Frank Lampard clearly spent the week chuckling to himself at the surprise he had in store for his former manager.
Lampard switched to a 3-4-3 formation for this match which is not unheard of this season but has not been seen for some time. It caught Jose Mourinho completely off guard as he had probably spent the week planning for the usual 4-3-3/4-2-3-1. Even more surprisingly, Chelsea was able to adapt better to Mourinho’s changes than Tottenham ever able was to Chelsea’s.
It was not a match without controversy, both the normal and the abhorrent. But in a way, the match gave both managers just what they needed for Christmas.
Lampard’s Chelsea has been criticized about their record against the top six. Even Mourinho himself fed into that. It is a fair criticism. Despite never being out played by rivals this season, the Blues were merely moral victories with the points going to the opposition. That, combined with Chelsea’s poorer record as of late, fed directly into the malaise prior to the match.
Chelsea did not just defeat Tottenham however. They completely outplayed them. Every battle, be it physical or mental, was won by a Chelsea player. The 3-4-3 dumbfounded Mourinho’s Tottenham side as if they were Manchester United staring down a 4-0 by Antonio Conte. Mourinho tried to match the 3-4-3 with his own back three, but history proved under Conte how risky that could be. The Blues’ win was comfortable long before the red card.
But Mourinho did not lose totally. Tottenham has been doing very well under him but there was still a sense that something was missing. That little extra bit that makes a Mourinho team a Mourinho team. Lampard has given that to Mourinho now. The old “us against the world” mentality.
Son Heung-min’s red card was deserved. A player cannot kick out at an opponent intentionally. How “violent” it was is a matter of debate. But it was a red card.
The VAR given penalty was also stone cold. Keepers may be the most protected players in the game, but that is not an excuse to come flying out feet flying, making no play for the ball, to stop an attack. That in of itself could have been a red.
Of course, Mourinho will not see the truth of these incidents. Quite the opposite. He will use them to show his new Tottenham side that the refs, opposition, and world are against them. It is the siege mentality that he has built up (or attempted to) at every single side he has been at thus far. He may have spoken nice during the early days of Tottenham, but the real Mourinho has now been given what he needs to make things click.
Lampard and Chelsea got the much needed three points to dig themselves out of a hole before Boxing Day. Mourinho and Tottenham got the punch in the face that the former was waiting for and the latter did not know they needed to take. Lampard leaves the victor, but that does not mean Mourinho did not get something he wanted out of this match. It will be a good Christmas for both.