Tottenham loss shouldn’t come as surprise to Chelsea

Tottenham took advantage of a fast start to defeat Chelsea and usurp them in the league table. Here’s what we learned from Saturday’s game.

Slow starts have been an issue for Chelsea at times this season, and an inability to control games in the early going finally caught up with them on Saturday. The Blues found themselves down two goals before a half-hour had passed, and were unable to recover.

The loss marks the end of Chelsea’s season-long unbeaten run, a run during which they have dominated almost every game they’ve played in. This wasn’t the case at Wembley on Saturday, as Chelsea appeared to be playing from behind after the opening whistle.

Spurs appeared to be the better team in all facets of the game. They were more pragmatic in defense, more decisive in midfield and more clinical in attack. It seems strange that such a tactically-minded manager like Maurizio Sarri could be outcoached so thoroughly, but that’s precisely what happened.

Chelsea’s midfield was particularly poor, a very troubling sign given the events that occurred earlier this week. N’Golo Kante signed a contract extension that made him the highest paid Chelsea player in history, but he hardly looked deserving of said contract in Saturday’s game. Jorghino and Mateo Kovacic were also less than stellar, losing possession and failing to stop Tottenham from advancing into the final third.

Mauricio Pochettino may have solved one of the Premier League’s season-long problems today: How to beat Chelsea. Not every team Chelsea encounter play have the offensive capabilities of a team like Tottenham, but if Chelsea continue to open games like they did today, that may not matter.

The passes Spurs were able to make that led to the chances they created weren’t the most difficult, meaning that a team of lesser talent could replicate their start to this game. That could be extremely disastrous if Chelsea can’t clean up their early game execution.

Tottenham’s two early goals and their emphasis on getting the ball forward shows Chelsea may not respond well to a flurry of pressure in the early stages of a game. Spurs were able to keep Chelsea on their heels within the first 10 minutes, a style of play that led to one Dele Alli goal and several chances to double or even triple their lead.

Offensively, Chelsea didn’t seem to play with their usual spark. Passes inside the box were wayward, more often flying past the touchline than to the feet of awaiting attackers. Sarri’s system is predicated on how proficient his teams are in attack, but Chelsea failed to live up to their manager’s expectations today.

Chelsea can afford to have slow starts against inferior competition, something they’ve become somewhat notorious for in the Europa League this season. Their games against the likes of PAOK and BATE often see them meandering about for the majority of the game before scoring a winner in the final 30 minutes. Again, when the talent disparity is that evident, a team like Chelsea can afford to not be at their absolute best.

However, in games like Saturday’s, when place and position in the table is up for grabs, that simply can’t happen. Chelsea cannot allow teams like Tottenham, Manchester City and Liverpool to blitz them out of the gate like they did today. It’s difficult to play from behind against any team, but even moreso when you’re behind against a team that may be more talented than you are.

Today’s loss puts Tottenham ahead of Chelsea in the table, with the latter having a tough set of upcoming fixtures. Chelsea will have to deal with a derby against Fulham, a trip to Wolves and a visit from Manchester City over the next three weeks.

There’s never a good time for a team to suffer your first defeat of the season, but perhaps losing this game will give Chelsea a chance to reflect on their execution to this point in the campaign. An emphasis on making better decisions to start games should help them in the long run, and that change in philosophy should come in the next few weeks.

If not, Chelsea could be in for a mid-season skid.