I think that we should look at two aspects of the match. Firstly, at our overall performance, and secondly, at the managerial histrionics and the general petulance on the pitch.
Our overall performance was quite frankly poor. Three at the back is all very well but it depends on the strength of the wing backs. Ours are not good enough and those supporters of Royal are deluded. When you watch the first Chelsea goal, Royal is in no man’s land and Son rightly gets the wrath of his manager for being absent.
Conte made the right decision to substitute Sessegnon, but when I watched him come off the pitch, there was an air of petulance and victimhood about him that I don’t find endearing.
There have been supporters and commentators who have been waxing lyrically about him after the first game against Southampton, but I have severe reservations about his character.
Understandably, we ceded possession to Chelsea with the intention of catching them on the break, but their pace was too much for us and Bentancur and Hojbjerg are not quick or skillful enough under pressure. Our ball retention was poor beyond belief, and Kulu and Son were very average.
Frankly, they were much the better side, and we were extremely lucky to get a point for me there is still the same problem of ball retention, a laboured build-up, lack of pace, and lack of guile in midfield. I do not understand the necessity of playing two ball winners or DMs in midfield. Kante, Jorginho, and Mount were far too good for us in that area.
In respect of the antics on the pitch, it was always going to be a feisty affair, given our past history but I thought it was a foul by Bentancur on Havertz, who incidentally is a sausage, and Romero, who clearly has a short fuse, pulled Cucurella’s hair. Forgetting the handbag antics of Tuchel and Conte, I have never liked it when we descend into these types of antics.
Having supported Spurs since 1962, I have always been a football purist and have enjoyed watching many great football teams, both league and international, but I have always disliked the antics of players like Diego Costa. There’s nothing wrong with being hard, but cheating is a different matter.
Having the right mentality is equally if not more important. I’m afraid that I am in a minority when I would prefer us to play the game in the right spirit which is naive but if you look at the last ten years, the winners of the Premier League have won by playing attractive and attacking football and my concern is that under Conte, we play neither.