Chelsea v West Ham dim Tottenham Hotspur top four hopes in crazy week

Things had fallen in favor of Tottenham most of the week. Both Liverpool and Chelsea drew while Tottenham beat Southampton. Then Liverpool drew again and just one more draw, between Chelsea and West Ham, would leave Tottenham only three points out of fourth place with five games to go. Unfortunately, expected things, like VAR, and unexpected things, like Timo Werner scoring, lifted Chelsea over West Ham, leaving Tottenham’s top-four hopes on life support.

Everything but the Premier League for Tottenham this week

What a week it has been for Tottenham. Yes, the Spurs played and won against Southampton midweek but those three points were well overshadowed by a slew of stories off the pitch. First, was the “Super League” situation causing a huge uproar leading to the exodus of all six of the “Big Six” English clubs.

NOTE: The Super League may or may not be finished, depending on how much you want to listen to, like Sky Sports.

In the midst of the Super League debacle, certainly, as a weapon of mass distraction, came the announcement that Tottenham had sacked Jose Mourinho then just six days before the impending League Cup Final. Whether or not the money Tottenham was to have from the Super League impacted the decision or timing is anyone outside the offices of N17’s guess.

If nothing else, a not-insignificant portion of the fanbase was immediately and simultaneously relieved and uplifted by Mourinho receiving the sack. Admit it some of you reading this would have never accepted him. Regardless, Mourinho was gone and it looked like Ryan Mason was going to get the gig.

Sure enough, the next day Ryan Mason was Spurs coach and a few other former players were on the staff with him. As Mason had 48 hours to prepare, unsurprisingly Tottenham looked a bit between ideas in the first half versus Southampton. Fortunately, in the second half, Tottenham remembered how to possess the ball and managed to grab the three points.

Almost like clockwork on Friday, Liverpool drew again, as Joe Willock continues to have his say in the top four race, just not for Arsenal. With Newcastle stealing a point late, Tottenham needed just one more result to be 3 points adrift, with five games to go, level on matches.

VAR and Timo Werner hurt the Tottenham cause

There were two controversial moments with VAR in the  West Ham versus Chelsea match, and for the Hammer faithful, you likely feel hard done. The first was in the first half as a shot was blocked by César Azpilicueta, which seemed to go off his chest/shoulder and down his arm and wide of goal.

Frankly, a penalty would have been a tough one for Azpilicueta and Chelsea but we have seen much worse. Unfortunately, for both Tottenham and West Ham much worse was to come.

The play started innocuous enough as Fabián Balbuena was racing to beat Ben Chilwell to the ball. As Balbuena got to the ball first he cleared it up the pitch as Chilwell continued to press and pressure. As Chilwell arrived just a second late the ball was gone and the defender caught the Chelsea winger on the follow-through.

Chilwell, like any other player in the league, ate it up like a sandwich and was down for a bit. Originally, the play continued but VAR was not satisfied with the announcers on American TV noting they watched the replay some 20+ times before asking referee Chris Kavanagh to come to have a look.

Chris Kavanagh watched as Balbuena’s cleat went into the back of Chilwell’s leg and quickly walked away to give the red card. Had Balbuena been the defender on the play and hard cleated Chilwell trying to block the ball, then yes, 100% it is a red card. However, Chilwell was the defender on the play, Balbuena had the ball and cleared it.

That Chilwell jumped into the place where Balbuena’s leg finished kicking should only be a card if the kick is above the waist and otherwise dangerous. This was simply a clearance and Chilwell’s hustle left him unlucky, which is completely different than if Chilwell had cleated Balbuena as the defender going to block the ball.

This was simply a ridiculous interpretation of the rules and a complete lack of understanding of the game. Everyone involved in that decision should be embarrassed.

All this was of course after Timo Werner accomplished the rare feat of scoring a Premier League goal, which left Chelsea in front. With only 10 men for the last 10 minutes, West Ham was never going to make the miraculous comeback they have lived by all season.

With Chelsea winning, Tottenham is not a huge five points adrift of fourth place with five matches to go. With five teams all vying for the last Champions League place from the league, it is not a surprise Tottenham has a less than 10% chance of reaching the promised land.

Of course, if Tottenham wins on Sunday versus Manchester City they are at least guaranteed the Europa League playoff spot, which is slightly better than this season was. Ultimately, that should be the focus, the League Cup and City, because a win on Sunday would take a lot of pressure off when it comes to following the table and worrying about others’ results. Take care of yourself and good things will happen. Assuming there is no VAR.