Chelsea is singing it’s happened again, it’s happened again, Tottenham Hotspur, it’s happened again. Yes indeed it has happened again Chelsea have beat Spurs 3-0 at TH Stadium in a game of two halves with Spurs starting the game off the better side of two mounting pressure but not creating anything of consequence. The first half came to end leaving Thomas Tuchel with more questions than answers which led him to making a change at the start of the second half bringing on N’Golo Kante for Mason Mount and the rest is history. The change instantly made the difference with Chelsea having more of the possession and the press was much better leaving Spurs playing on the back foot. Thiago Silva opened up the scoring with a bullet header past Lloris, then it was quickly followed by Kante having his shot deflected onto the post and into the net and finally Antonio Rudiger got his goal that he didn’t get midweek against Zenit which just topped off a fantastic second half and result.
That quick summary of the game aside, today’s result was another statement of intent every team in Premier League but most importantly Liverpool. That one Chelsea is the real deal if you didn’t know already and that anything Liverpool can do Chelsea can do. What I mean by that is Chelsea and Liverpool have had the same exact results in the Premier League over the first 5 games which leaves them level on points and goal difference. But Chelsea are 1st because of head to head between the two clubs with Chelsea scoring away in the 1-1 draw last month. Another game week has come to an end with many lessons learnt but here are three from Chelsea 3 Tottenham 0.
1. No matter what goals will come from all over the pitch
Chelsea have had 10 different goal scorers this season which has showed the true versatility of this squad but also gives the fans the confidence that goals will be scored regardless of who it may be from. We all know Chelsea will be relying on Lukaku to score the brunt of the goals that is why he was brought in because of last season’s goal scoring woes. But so far this season we’ve seen defenders, midfielders and forwards all score with some catching everyone by surprise. Kovacic who rarely scores, scored last week and today Kante did the same alongside Rudiger who scored with his feet rather than his head. This is something that should be music to ears of Tuchel because when Lukaku is struggling to get clear cut chances like he did today he can rely on set pieces and lucky deflections to get over the line.
Over a 38 match season in which you are vying for a Premier League title you need luck on multiple occasions especially when playing competition who are after the same goal as you but also when playing in the most subjectively competitive league in the world. I must also point out that Tottenham were very poor in second half that led too Silva scoring off a corner because Alli didn’t challenge Silva, no one closed out Kante and let him shoot and finally let a defender side foot a shot into the bottom corner with little resistance. Chelsea wasn’t at their best today but had the better manager, had the better players and have the better fans which made it possible to overcome a bad first half.
2. The front three needs to improve their chemistry
We saw our most frequent front three of this season so far against Tottenham which was Mount, Havertz and Lukaku. Some say that is our best front three in terms of quality but I say the chemistry between the three seems all out of sorts. Throughout the first half it consisted of counter attacks that led to nothing because no one could play anyone through, inability to pass the ball to Lukaku’s feet and finally complete and utter confusion between the three led to changes being made at halftime. I want nothing more to see the absolute best of Mount and Havertz but they are not doing themselves any favors, is it down to lack of understanding due to limited time they had on the pitch with Lukaku or is it overthinking simple solutions and making the wrong decisions. From what I saw against Tottenham both Mount and Havertz would either take wrong shot or completely miss hit the ball or lack that final ball in order to play Lukaku through.
So what’s the solution, well first getting through the growing pains of playing with a new teammate but also have better communication and understanding that will only come with time. But will they get that time in the short term with a squad that Tuchel continuously changes every match well I hope so but more training will only help. When Werner came on for Havertz it looked a lot better but once again Werner’s finishing and first touch let him down but his movement at least opened up more space. This team is not lacking in attacking talent but in order to reach their maximum potential they must grow their understanding and the flood gates will open without a doubt.
3. Jimmy Greaves brought two rivals together for a period of time
We were all hit with the news hours before kickoff that Jimmy Greaves had passed away at the age 81 on the day when the two clubs he most famously played for were set to face off. Everyone knows that Chelsea and Tottenham do not like each other and the players and fans are always in a fighting mood when going head to head. But even with that being said Jimmy Greaves if it was only for a minute brought these two clubs and their respective fans together to appreciate the mark that Greaves not only left at these clubs with his goal scoring but also the mark he left in football as whole being one of the most prolific goal scorers of all time.
Although the great goal scorers of today that were on the pitch for the match didn’t score I am sure that Lukaku and more especially Kane hope to continue to emulate Greaves’ goal scoring in English football and will look to match his records that no one has come close to them as of yet.
What lessons did you learn from this match? Let us know in the comments and on Twitter!