Chelsea three lessons learnt from Spurs: The Blues are settled

Chelsea and Tottenham settled for a draw. The Blues are a settled team now among the lessons they have learned from Tottenham.

Chelsea took on Tottenham Hotspur in what was a closely fought contest, especially considering the league position and form of both sides. Having promised so much in match previews and pre-game tactical analysis of this potential early season title decider, it was ultimately a match too important to lose and neither team were brave or good enough to settle for anything more than a draw. Here are the lessons learnt from Chelsea 0, Tottenham Hotspur 0.

1. Nothing to see here

For those who had suggested Sunday’s matchup against Spurs to be a potential title decider, the performance from either team certainly did nothing to reinforce either side’s case as a title contender. Neither Spurs nor Chelsea had in them the ability to dominate the game or provide that something extra to find a winner. When accounting for just how inconsistent the other top teams are in general, the title is still very much within grasp for the top four teams in the league. As such, in the grander scheme of things come the end of the season, Sunday’s match will surely be no more than a footnote regardless of the eventual title winners.

That being said, Chelsea being blessed with having one of the youngest squads in the league would simultaneously mean that the team is nowhere near being the finished product. This, together with the fact that Sunday was the first match in almost two years that Lampard has had a fully fit squad to choose from, would suggest a massive upside for this Chelsea side to continue improving. Put simply, Frank Lampard’s Chelsea is still very much in the infancy of its cycle. When compared to Jose Mourinho’s Spurs, who are more or less already operating at peak capacity, the future hence looks way more promising for Chelsea.

With such a solid defensive base to build upon, time and greater chemistry within the first eleven would undoubtedly see better days for fans and manager alike in the not too distant future.

2. A settled eleven and limited rotation

Since playing Burnley on the last day of October, Frank Lampard has made just six total changes to the starting eleven in his subsequent five matches, with three of those coming in the match against Rennes alone. Moreover, apart from Lampard’s unwillingness to deviate from his preferred eleven, the Englishman displays a similar reluctance to bring about early changes in the form of substitutes during games. These are quite clearly indications that Lampard has more or less settled on a starting eleven that he is comfortable with. Considering just how much the manager chopped and changed his preferred eleven in his first season in charge, this new found level of consistency is certainly a positive change, one that allows for greater chemistry to develop on the pitch.

What this means however, is that where inconsistencies in performances last season would often offer players a route back into the first-choice starting eleven, such opportunities for rotation are now few and far between. Moreover, with Chelsea perhaps sensing an opportunity for a title challenge in a year where so many of the big six are experiencing some kind of inconsistency in form, there is naturally much less room for trial or error. Callum Hudson-Odoi’s absence from the 18 man squad to face Spurs is hence but the latest in a line of players who have had their playing time limited due to Lampard having such a favored settled eleven.

Ultimately, fans simply cannot have their cake and still eat it. The fans that are complaining that Lampard is once again showing a certain bias towards a particular player are also the ones who were clamoring for a more settled eleven last season.  Nonetheless, such a settled eleven is most definitely not going to survive through the brutal December football schedule. Injuries and suspensions would start to kick in, and fringe players would sooner rather than later get the minutes that they desire. One can only hope that they are ready to step up when the time comes for them to reestablish themselves as first team regulars.

3. Mateo Kovacic, Chelsea’s “overlooked” player of the season

When the season first started and Mateo Kovacic was genuinely struggling for minutes on the pitch, many fans were seen criticizing Lampard for his selection of either Jorginho or Kai Havertz in his place. At the earlier stages of the season, with the manager still figuring out the best possible midfield combination which can offer some semblance of stability in the team, Kovacic, as a player not particularly outstanding in attack or defense, would tend to get overlooked.

However, as this match against Spurs would go to show, there are games where Kovacic’s unique skill sets still have a part to play. Against Spurs, Kovacic’s dynamism provided much needed thrust through the center of the park in a game which so often threatened to just pass us by. Impossible to dispossess when on the ball and tenacious when having to defend, Kovacic, together with Mason Mount, often looked like the keys to unlocking Tottenham Hotspurs’ stubborn defense.

As already mentioned before, the condensed 20/21 season still has much in store for players and the manager alike. As long as the Croatian continues performing like he did today, his name would never be far off Lampard’s first choice eleven.

What lessons did you learn from the match? Let us know in the comments and on Twitter!