The days when Tottenham were capable of ending this fixture with nine men trying to execute a high line against Nicolas Jackson are over, but on current evidence the decision to replace the excesses of Angeball with something more restrained and grown-up has merely invited soul-searching of a different nature.
The loud, sustained blast of booing that broke out at the final whistle of this sorry defeat to Chelsea said much about the identity crisis gripping Thomas Frank’s side. It was not that Spurs were bad, more that they were scared to play. There was an unambitious lineup from Frank, who started with six attacking players on the bench, and it led to his team finishing with a staggering expected goals of 0.05 as their losing run against Chelsea trundled into a fifth game.
“I would say that hurts massively,” Frank said. “I’ve never been in charge of a team that created that little. Never. I will look into what we can do to make it better.”
This is not football that will be welcomed by the crowd at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Spurs are supposed to play with panache but this was miserable. The numbers are unflattering: this was Spurs’ worst expected goals performance since records began in the 2012-13 season. The absence of Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison should not be hurting this much from a creative sense.
One goal was enough for Enzo Maresca’s side to move level on points with their London rivals. It was scored by the excellent João Pedro, ending the forward’s barren run, and there were outstanding performances in midfield from Reece James and Moisés Caicedo. Chelsea did not need to be much more than clinical and efficient to claim a restorative win after a period dominated by focus on their poor discipline record and last weekend’s setback against Sunderland.
Nothing had worked for Spurs. Frank’s smothering tactics involved a box midfield, João Palhinha following Enzo Fernández everywhere, and Randal Kolo Muani given little support in attack. Chelsea’s moves were slicker, particularly with Alejandro Garnacho repeatedly creating overloads on the left, and their high press disrupted Spurs. The hosts finished with only three shots, one on target.
