A legitimate question that may be asked is if Spurs’ comeback win against Leicester City on the final day of the season saved Chelsea’s season and more than that, Thomas Tuchel’s tenure as the Blues’ gaffer. Critics may say it is ridiculous to even think that in light of Chelsea achieving Champions League qualification and then again, earning it by beating Manchester City in the UCL final. Yet, when one looks back a week or two and examines the facts, all may not be quite so clear as it seems. Let’s explore this issue in a bit more detail.
Before a semi-precipitous decline at the semi-end of their season, the Blues were firing on all cylinders (at least as a team, if not in goal-scoring) and looked on their way to possibly three major achievements in 2020/21. Those achievements that seemed within reach, the way the club was playing, were Champions League qualification by finishing top four; winning the prestigious English FA Cup and the Champions League trophy—the most esteemed club prize of all. All seemed to be within reach, though there were no guarantees, of course, and the club was sailing along toward docking with all of its goals in its pocket.
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Before facing Arsenal on May 12, Chelsea had dispatched Fulham, Real Madrid and Manchester City before hitting a proverbial wall. It then lost to Arsenal on May 12, which put its seemingly reachable goal of UCL qualification in peril. Then the Blues lost to Leicester City in the FA Cup final on May 15 to put one goal in jeopardy and eliminate the other altogether.
Keep in mind that on May 11, nothing was sewn up for the Blues, at all. Many personnel decisions were totally questionable calls by Tuchel, putting the entirety of the three then-achievable seasonal goals absolutely in question. Chelsea then went on to beat Leicester City on May 18 and looked in a solid position to wrap up at least Champions League top four positioning by the end of the campaign.
At that point just before the final day of the season and game against Aston Villa, I asked a very knowledgeable—and much more astute colleague than I (very obliquely)—what he thought might eventuate should Chelsea miss out on all three of those previously thought reachable and achievable goals. His answer was what I had felt, but had not expressed. He indicated that he felt Tuchel’s job may possibly be at risk. I did not respond, but concurred. It certainly seemed possible that a triple collapse by the Blues after having the wonderful prospect of having such a magnificent season could be such a disappointment that it could prompt Chelsea to cut ties with the new manager right then and there.
During the Villa game, the scores were closely reported for both Liverpool and Leicester and the situation did not look promising for Chelsea fairly late in these contests. Yet, amazingly, Spurs rallied from deficits on two occasions and finished Leicester City’s chances for Champions League football due to two late goals by Gareth Bale. Phew. At that point, certainly, Blues fans could feel a sense of great relief tantamount to a balloon being deflated after the stress of that final day’s histrionics. Their team was safely ensconced in top four qualification, its poor performance against Villa notwithstanding.
Did that fortunate outcome and assistance by Tottenham pave the way for the second of Chelsea’s goals to be achieved, the Champions League win against Manchester City? Maybe it did.
The total Champions League qualification issue was eradicated by Spurs when they took down Leicester on that final day. Had they not, all the pressure of a Champions League final on Chelsea would have been exponentially enhanced by the pressure of a loss, which would thereby eliminate the Blues from that competition altogether and relegate the team to a Europa League appearance. If so, all three goals—seemingly so achievable just a short time before—would have been squandered. The rest, as we say, was history as Chelsea went on to conquer City for the biggest club prize of all.
With that in mind, could Tuchel have withstood the crushing disappointment of such high expectations and remained as manager of the Blues had Chelsea not had Spurs’ assistance? That interrogatory will never have to be answered, but it’s interesting to contemplate.
Thanks to Spurs’ depressurizing Chelsea’s then-upcoming tilt against City and guaranteeing their rivals UCL qualification, it allowed the Blues to concentrate on the match against City. The fact that they had beaten City twice consecutively under Tuchel and could certainly do so again set the stage for winning the biggest prize of all.
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