Spurs’ Regrettable Night in West London

As Spurs fans, how do we go about justifying the scenes that took place at Stamford Bridge on Monday night?

Emotions were high. Anything less than a win on the night would gift the Premier League title to Leicester City, and though that title felt like a foregone conclusion as soon as the whistle blew on last Monday’s 1-1 draw against West Brom, it would still sting to think it was ultimately through Spurs’ failings that the Foxes triumphed.

Chelsea were anxious to play foil, and while you can’t not fault some of Spurs players in the end, it was clear from early on in the match that this was going to get chippy regardless of match official Mark Clattenburg’s interventions.

Kyle Walker, Jan Vertonghen and Danny Rose all were on yellow cards before the first half came to a close. Though Spurs hopes were bolstered by holding a two goal lead over Chelsea at the interval, it felt as if tensions would continue.

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And continue they did. Once Spurs’ lead began to slip with Gary Cahill’s opening goal in the 58th minute, and then was successfully erased with Eden Hazard’s 83rd minute strike, it became clear how this match would end. Leicester would secure a historic title at Spurs’ expense, and the resulting resentment would combine with Chelsea’s joyful trolling to create a melee in the minutes leading up to the final whistle.

Érik Lamela and Christian Eriksen had picked up yellows of their own earlier in the half, but from the 87th minute on through the sixth and final minute of stoppage time Spurs would pick up another four. In total, nine yellow cards were issued to Spurs players – a new, shameful record for any team in the Premier League era.

Beyond simple bookings, offenses by Mousa Dembélé and Lamela could lead to bans that would prematurely end both players’ seasons. Others, most notably Eric Dier, were lucky to come out of the match without receiving a red card.

Spurs are joined by only Manchester City in the short list of teams to not receive a red card in the Premier League this season, a fact made more surprising given their 70 yellow cards are second only to Aston Villa. Most of those yellows come as a result of a brand of tactical fouling that has become key to Spurs’ gameplan this season, while relatively key have come from the type of petulance on full display Monday night.

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It’s easy to just shrug your shoulders at Monday night’s match. This is a young team who, despite all their success this season, still have much to learn in the ways of composure and discipline. They will, this reasoning goes, learn from this experience and handle the pressures of a title fight better the next time.

That’s a point that’s hard to argue against in general, but it’s hardly an excuse that works for someone like Dembélé. He’s among the older players in the squad, and should be leading by example. His attempt at an eye gouge on Diego Costa near the end of the match is therefore inexcusable.

Pochettino’s reaction after the match was predictable, but not exactly helpful.

“It was a derby, we were fighting to win the title and Chelsea were fighting to try and win,” Pochettino said. “We were all involved. When you play for the title and play a big team like Chelsea, they want to win. It was normal emotion, fighting on the pitch is not a good example, for both teams.

“In football we want to win and sometimes situations like tonight happen. I think there is nothing to say, nothing to blame, how [Chelsea] take the game shows big respect for us. That makes us feel proud.”

In his playing days for Espaynol in Spain, Pochettino was sent off the pitch a whopping 13 times. He clearly had no issue then with tempers flaring, and that might have continued through to his management.

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While we shouldn’t expect Monday’s match to be anything but an exception, Pochettino’s reluctance to outright condemn some of this behavior could send the wrong message to certain players. Dele Alli, for instance, is already serving a three match ban for assaulting West Brom’s Claudio Yacob last week, and he might misunderstand Pochettino’s flippant take as subtle encouragement.

Suspensions might not mean much now that Champions League football is secured, but Spurs will suffer if this behavior becomes more of a trend in seasons ahead that that will no doubt be even more contentious than the current one.