When Timo Werner nearly scored for Chelsea within 10 seconds of yesterday’s match, Tottenham Hotspur fans would have been right to fear the worst.

Chelsea went on to win 1-0 at the ground of its London rivals, but it was one of the most comfortable 1-0 wins you are likely to see.


The worry for Tottenham is not so much a defeat to a rival it has been accustomed to losing to in the Premier League PINC PINC era. Nor is it even the fact this is the third consecutive league defeat for Spurs – the first time that has happened since 2012. Instead, it is the manner of the defeat.

This was a listless performance in which the players looked devoid of ideas. Former Spurs midfielder Jermaine Jenas, working as a pundit for BT Sport, said at half-time the players looked “scared”. Playing the deep defensive block manager Jose Mourinho trusts against bigger teams, Spurs managed one shot in the first half.


It was an approach which has paid dividends for Tottenham this season, most notably in the wins against Manchester City and Arsenal. Yet against a Chelsea side that has been vulnerable this season, particularly away from home, it seemed an overly negative tactic.

Chelsea dominated. The home team was fortunate to only be one goal behind, coming from a penalty correctly awarded (despite Mourinho’s post-match complaints) for a clumsy Eric Dier foul.

If Spurs was better in the second half, it is only because it could hardly have been worse. The players ran around more and were braver in attack, but only really had one good chance to claim what would have been an unjust equalizer.


That chance fell to Carlos Vinícius, a player for whom it was easy to feel sorry for yesterday. The 25-year-old striker, making his first start in the Premier League, was given the thankless task of holding the ball up against Chelsea’s three center-backs.

Under Mourinho, Spurs strategy relies on its forwards hunting for scraps and, with Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min, it is possible to turn those scraps into goalscoring chances. Vinícius is a long way from being Kane and it is unfair to expect him to be.

Yesterday’s defeat comes after a disappointing but not unexpected loss against Liverpool, followed by a disastrous performance in the defeat at Brighton & Hove Albion.

With the matches coming thick and fast, the next ones, as ever, are crucial. Anything but a win at home against West Brom on Sunday will ramp up the pressure on this fragile-looking team. In mid-week, it’s a difficult FA Cup tie at Everton, then, next weekend, a trip to an in-form Manchester City. After that, sandwiched between the Europa League round of 16 ties against Wolfsberger, a trip to West Ham, another in-form rival.


Perhaps, Spurs fans should not be too worried just yet. Things can change quickly in soccer (Spurs was top in December).

The gap to the top four is still only seven points with nearly half the season to play. The League Cup final is in April, a one-off match offering the club a chance to claim its first trophy since 2008. This side should have enough to overcome Wolfsberger, sixth in the Austrian Bundesliga, and reach the last 16 of the Europa League. The FA Cup match with Everton looks a bigger challenge, but a win would take it to the quarter-finals.

In an industry that is notoriously impatient, maybe this is the moment to give Mourinho time to take a breath. To wait and see if he can find a way back to the early season form when Spurs thrashed Manchester United 6-1. Mourinho has been in bad runs of form before and he is certainly a fighter.

There is no escaping, however, that yesterday’s defeat felt like the nadir of Mourinho’s 14 months at Spurs. This time next week, things could be even worse.