Chelsea vs Tottenham: Spurs must restore resilience ahead of north London derby after scrutiny shifts

Pochettino has big questions to ask of his players. They now need a big response, especially for a derby. Really, they need the response that Chelsea offered

When it came to the big decision of the day, Maurizio Sarri didn’t tell Kepa Arrizabalaga individually. The goalkeeper found out he was being punished by getting dropped at the same time as every other Chelsea player did, in the meeting together with the rest of the team.

And whether it had any influence or not, the entire week surely did, in further bringing the team together on the pitch. That was how defiant Chelsea were in the 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur. That is how quickly things change. In quite a remove from Tuesday’s sombre mood at Cobham, there were only smiles from Sarri after this, as he joked with journalists about whether they were doing their own jobs well when asked about his future.

“I spoke to the club two or three times in the last days,” he chuckled, “but the problem wasn’t so big as you wrote.”

Not for Chelsea right now, anyway.

For Tottenham Hotspur, it suddenly feels very different.

The problems have only grown for them, to the point they now feel the big-six London club with the most issues. That, again, is how quickly things can change. That is that is the nature of the spotlight for those sides.

That is the damaging effect successive defeats can have.

It is not just that Spurs have lost two games in a row, or are now a mere four points ahead of Arsenal ahead of the north London derby.

It is really about how flat they are suddenly playing. There was just such tepidness to their game.

“We didn’t shoot,” Mauricio Pochettino complained. And then some. This was actually the first match where Tottenham didn’t register a single shot on target since the 5-0 defeat to Liverpool in December 2013, the match that cost Andre Villas-Boas his job.

Pedro skips his way past Ben Davies (Getty Images)

What a painful reference for that to be. And what a match for this to happen.

Such was all the controversy and focus on Chelsea’s goal, and the fact Willy Caballero was there instead of Kepa, that it really should have been one of Spurs’ main missions from the off to immediately test the stand-in and his nerves. The fact that the Argentine had such a poor game against Spurs in this stadium in April, letting two efforts fly past him, should have only added to that. Another waste from the side, and not just because they have once again slipped when something bigger looked on.

Spurs’ meekness did not just apply to shooting or attacking, either. It was also visible in general play.

What should be most galling for Pochettino was how a Chelsea side supposed to be in crisis showed all the fight that has these days been best associated with Spurs. Pedro personified this, particularly with his runs, and especially with the run for that goal.

Pochettino sides are so rarely outfought, but that is now twice in successive games.

And this despite the fact their match came on Saturday afternoon, while Chelsea went into extra time on Sunday evening.

Pochettino has big questions to ask of his players. They now need a big response, especially for a derby. Really, they need the response that Chelsea offered.

“I know that this match, for our fans, is really very important,” Sarri said. “It’s a London derby, maybe the most important with the other against Fulham. So the result and the performance were really very important. But I think that the most important was that we were able to fight for the result.”

Sarri now believes the Kepa issue is finished, and said that the 23-year-old will be restored as first-choice goalkeeper from Thursday.

Spurs need to restore their resilience. That has now become the weekend’s big issue.