With the season on the line, Tottenham Hotspur, once again, could not get the job done. At a critical moment in their history with Premier League survival on the line, Spurs took a trip to Stamford Bridge and got pummeled 2-1, failing to secure the point they needed. And now, Matchday 38 against Richarlison's former employers Everton will be a desperate affair for Roberto De Zerbi's men.
So many key players for Tottenham were atrocious as Chelsea joined Arsenal in sweeping their Big Six London rivals this season, and whlie most of the negative attention is rightfully on Randal Kolo Muani and a woefully inept front line, center midfielder Conor Gallagher named himself back among the worst performers of the night.
Gallagher seemed like a rejuvenated man under De Zerbi, and there was actually optimism that the former Chelsea midfielder would be able to exact revenge on his former employers. But on the same night that the player who replaced his importance to Chelsea, Enzo Fernandez, contributed to both of the goals, Gallagher contributed nothing to the Tottenham Hotspur cause in defeat.
Conor Gallagher has too many limitations
Although Roberto De Zerbi helped make Conor Gallagher look more effective these last couple of weeks, Tottenham learned a bitter lesson that even a great manager can't make a subpar player look great when the competition steps up. De Zerbi's tactical tweaks may have worked in helping Gallagher and covering up his problems against the mid table sides, but against a Chelsea team with quality midfielders like Andrey Santos, Moises Caicedo, and World Cup winner Enzo, Gallagher got exposed for what he is.
He's just not a great footballer. Gallagher is mediocre at best, and there are limits to how much De Zerbi can manufacture positive circumstances for him. He can't create the chances every time for Gallagher or be the one on the pitch executing for the English midfielder, and that showed with Chelsea totally blanketing him on the pitch.
And it's obvious when you watch a player with James Maddison's football IQ and technical quality that there is a huge gap between Gallagher and an actual top midfielder, and that gap is actually the very same reason why Chelsea sold Gallagher and gave the keys to the kingdom to Enzo, even firing Mauricio Pochettino in part because he was misguided in his love for Gallagher. And maybe that is a lesson De Zerbi needs to make sure he takes with him into the summer transfer window, too.
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