JOSE FLAGGING
Spurs surrender on unhappy Bridge return
JOSE MOURINHO returned to Stamford Bridge insisting he is now “200 per centTottenham”.
That is no excuse, however, for sitting in the post-match press conference waving a white flag.
With no strikers, no cohesion and no belief, Mourinho’s first thought is of surrender.
He cannot wait for three hard months to be over so he can start again with a fit and fresh squad on July 1 – his own “motto” that he has already threatened to repeat until the injury crisis is over.
OK, so Tottenham are running at a level far below their full capabilities at the moment.
But by the same token, they were nowhere near the second best team in Europe last season.
Under Mauricio Pochettino, who was also without Harry Kane, they dared and they did.
Saturday’s opponents Chelsea had their problems, too – just one win in five Premier League home games and strikers Tammy Abraham and Callum HudsonOdoi not fit enough to start.
However, after more than a decade at Stamford Bridge as a player, the most glorious under Mourinho, Frank Lampard knows the expectation from the Shed End is that you just roll up your sleeves and get on with it.
“Sometimes being positive isn’t honest,” said Lampard. “If there’s a reason we’re not winning games here then we have to say it. But after that, we have to ask how we put it right. The solution for us was in our mindset. The lads were spot-on in every way.”
With Olivier Giroud at the helm of the attack, Chelsea’s play had more of a focus and it was no surprise that the France striker fired them into the lead from a rebound after Ross Barkley hit the post. Three minutes after the break, Marcos Alonso doubled the lead with a superb finish.
It could have been more were it not for some inspired goalkeeping from Hugo Lloris and the visitors were lucky not to be reduced to 10 men in the 52nd minute after a horrific challenge by Giovani Lo Celso on Cesar Azpilicueta.
An unfortunate Antonio Rudiger own goal flattered the visitors, and it was hard not to feel Lampard had just handed his old boss a managerial masterclass.
CHELSEA (3-4-3): Caballero 6; Azpilicueta 7, Rudiger 6, Christensen 7; James 6, Jorginho 6, Kovacic 7, Alonso 7; Barkley 8 (Willian 77), Giroud 9 (Abraham 71), Mount 8. Goals: Giroud 15, Alonso 48.
TOTTENHAM (3-5-2): Lloris 5; Sanchez 7, Alderweireld 6 (Aurier 78), Vertonghen 6; Tanganga 5, Winks 6, Ndombele 5 (Lamela 63), Lo Celso 3, Davies 5; Moura 6, Bergwijn 5 (Alli 78). Goals: Rudiger 89 og.