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Tottenham’s growing pains are still progress

By Ryan Wrenn

LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 22: Mauricio Pochettino, Manager of Tottenham Hotspur reacts during The Emirates FA Cup Semi-Final between Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley Stadium on April 22, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Michael Regan - The FA/The FA via Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 22: Mauricio Pochettino, Manager of Tottenham Hotspur reacts during The Emirates FA Cup Semi-Final between Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley Stadium on April 22, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Michael Regan - The FA/The FA via Getty Images) /
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If there is some glimmer of hope that came out of Tottenham’s soul-crushing 4-2 loss to Chelsea, it will come from the same place as all the misery.

The fact is that Tottenham lost despite being the better team. For diehards that’s a nearly impossible pill to swallow, but it does represent progress.

Though the scoreline alone might suggest otherwise, this loss wasn’t the same breed of failure as past calamities. This is not quite a cause for abject hopelessness.

Chelsea’s two opening goals were the result of uncharacteristic mistakes. Their next two were freakishly good hits that they could replicate if they tried.

In between was some of the best football Tottenham has played this season. The team as a whole sparkled, pushing Chelsea back and looking overwhelming for the majority of the 90 minutes.

Which is to say: this was not a capitulation. This was luck. This was the stress of the occasion. This was an unfortunate turn of events that tells us very little about how good this Tottenham team actually is.

Spurs suffered worse, and more telling, losses in recent memory. Take, for instance, losses to Monaco and Bayer Leverkusen in the autumn. Those were the types of failures that confirmed a deep suspicion: that Tottenham were not yet ready for the Champions League.

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With so much effort and money spent on reaching that competition again — a project six years in the making — to drop out before the knockout rounds was a gut punch. Subsequently losing to lowly Gent in the Europa League felt like getting kicked when the club was already down.

Such crises of confidence appeared to be a continuation of the epic meltdown that came late last season. With four games to spare and the title still in reach, Spurs conspired to draw two and lose two. The title then a place above Arsenal in the table slipped from their grip.

Were these fragments — and Saturday’s loss — of a larger, consistent whole, it would be easy to start panicking. Fortunately, they’re not.

Tottenham’s Premier League season that is more or less unimpeachable. Unbeaten through November (and still invincible at White Hart Lane), they followed that up with two winning streaks that catapulted them into title contention for the second season running. With six games still to play, only four points separate them from Chelsea at the top of the table.

Mauricio Pochettino will take comfort from sample sizes. Maybe Spurs still lack a clutch factor in decisive matches, and maybe they struggle to play at Wembley Stadium, but over the course of a full season they are one of the best teams in England, bar none.

Next: Crystal Palace vs Tottenham: under the numbers

With Spurs still fielding one of the youngest sides in the Premier League, there is every reason to expect growth. There will be yet more title challenges, and maybe even trophies. Competitions like the Champions League will become more familiar, and Wembley less overwhelming. These are problems with no solution but time, which Pochettino has plenty of.