However, Tottenham might not actually have improved by all that much. This was shown as they were only able to manage a 2-2 draw in a feisty encounter against a Chelsea team who have thus far endured a dismal transfer window. Kalidou Koulibaly put Chelsea a goal ahead; the score remained 1-0 at halftime. After the break, Pierre-Emile Højbjerg would score an equalizing goal for Tottenham before Reece James restored the Blues' lead just 10 minutes later. Then, in the sixth minute of stoppage time, Harry Kane scored a controversial last-ditch goal to salvage a draw, bailing Tottenham out as he has done on countless occasions.
If anything, Tottenham were rather fortunate to leave Stamford Bridge with a point. Chelsea outplayed Tottenham for the vast majority of the match - they almost doubled Tottenham's possession, attempted far more shots, and dictated the pace of play throughout proceedings.
Tottenham's wing-back duo of Ryan Sessegnon and Emerson Royal were clearly not up to the challenge. Both were dominated by their Chelsea counterparts Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Marc Cucurella. Their sub-par performances were a major reason for Tottenham's difficulties in this London derby. Although both were correctly substituted, the question must still be asked about Sessegnon in particular: with Sergio Reguilón likely on his way out of Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, is Sessegnon really Tottenham's long-term answer as the starting right wing-back? The signs thus far do not appear promising.
Tottenham also did not have it their own way up front. Dejan Kulusevski and Son Heung-min played well below their usual standards; both had hardly any impact at all on the match. It is no coincidence that Tottenham's overall level of play significantly improved upon Richarlison's entry.
The introduction of Richarlison to the team does, however, pose one other problem: that of the positional logjam. Assuming Richarlison becomes a regular starter, one of Kulusevski, Rodrigo Bentancur, or Højbjerg will likely have to be moved to the bench unless head coach Antonio Conte adjusts his tactics accordingly. Conte is unlikely to change his 3-4-2-1 formation with which he has used to tremendous success throughout his coaching career. Thus, he is walking something of a tactical tightrope as he proceeds.
An in-house incident which took place earlier this week may have destabilized the team ahead of the match. Conte publicly announced that four players (Reguilón, Tanguy Ndombele, Harry Winks, and Giovani Lo Celso) who Tottenham were seeking to offload would no longer be attending training sessions with the rest of the team. Though the move in and of itself was understandable, one must question what exactly there was to gain by announcing it publicly. After all, doing so would not serve to increase any of those players' transfer values; it would also cause a general feeling of unease to develop among the players.
Before this match, I would have said that Tottenham fans could be reasonably optimistic about their club's prospects this season. Now, though, it appears that they have only marginally improved from last season. That being said, they have not yet added Richarlison as a regular starter. The Brazilian striker may very well turn out to be the catalyst to a coming ascent.
There's obviously more than enough time for Tottenham Hotspur to separate themselves from the chasing pack and firmly establish themselves in the Premier League's top three. That said, it has now clearly been shown that doing so won't be all that straightforward. Only time will tell if Tottenham rise to the occasion or pull a "classic Tottenham" and perhaps miss out on a top-four spot entirely.
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