Tottenham have failed to improve this season unlike Chelsea who have come in leaps and bounds under Antonio Conte
Newcastle legend slams Spurs' recruitment over the summer whilst singing the praises of Antonio Conte's work at Chelsea
LOOKING at the teams fighting for the title, I see progress in all of them. Apart from one.
Chelsea in particular have improved, but Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal also look stronger than last season.
Not so Tottenham, however.
It may seem churlish after they suffered their first league defeat of the season on Saturday, but I see no improvement from a side that got so close to winning the title last campaign.
It has been a sorry week for them, leaving serious question marks over the ability of this team and, indeed, some of the decisions by the manager.
It is has taken a lot of hard work at White Hart Lane to get back into the Champions League proper for the first time since reaching the quarter-finals back in 2011.
Then on Tuesday, Mauricio Pochettino had a must-win game away to Monaco and chose to rest two defenders.
Both Kyle Walker and Jan Vertonghen were left out with an eye on Saturday’s early evening kick-off against Chelsea.
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Now I accept that with Danny Rose suspended for that game, and Toby Alderweireld injured, he had some juggling to do.
But you simply do not weaken your side when faced with a game you have to win to stand a chance of progressing in the Champions League.
What is the point of working so hard to get into it, if you’re going to take a risk like that?
And it backfired badly as they lost both games in any case.
The morning after the Monaco defeat there appeared to be some blame being passed chairman Daniel Levy’s way.
He had not backed his manager enough in the transfer market, apparently, which is why the squad wasn’t coping.
Hang on, he spent nearly £70million on Victor Wanyama, Vincent Janssen, Moussa Sissoko and Georges-Kevin Nkoudou.
None of them have improved Spurs. Also, there are players who did well for Spurs last season but whose levels have dropped — Eric Dier being one along with Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen.
Not so at Chelsea, where there they broke the £100m mark this summer by buying the likes of N’Golo Kante, Marcos Alonso and David Luiz.
Eyebrows were raised at the return of Luiz and justifiably so after early performances.
Him and Gary Cahill looked like an accident waiting to happen in a back-four.
But since going to three at the back, it has all changed.
Indeed, the 3-4-3 formation has prompted a run of seven Premier League wins in a row for Antonio Conte’s side — with the first goal conceded in that time coming on Saturday.
Kante, unsurprisingly, has been a success after shining for Leicester last season.
He is the motor in the middle of this Chelsea team. In a way that strike from Erikssen was a blessing as we found out more about Chelsea.
Yes, Spurs were well on top but the steel in this Chelsea side was there for all to see.
It took piece of individual brilliance by Pedro — a different player under Conte — to level it up, but it was a real team effort to go on and win.
Boss Conte is a whirlwind of emotion on the sidelines, but this also transfers to the pitch and the fans. And he clearly has a cool head tactically.
One player in particular that empitomises the incredible work he has done after the shambles of last season is Victor Moses.
He has been floating around on loan for the past three years at Liverpool, Stoke and West Ham, but Conte has brought him to life again at Chelsea.
Witness his amazing run from a defensive position into the Spurs box for his winner.
The system also gets the best out of Eden Hazard, who took a year out on full pay last season.
Not burdened with that odious task of tracking back — heaven forbid — he is doing what he does best again.
As for Diego Costa, I have always liked this player. And right now he is channelling his aggression in the right way.
Ironically, Chelsea’s failure last season has helped their title tilt because, like Liverpool, not being in Europe undoubtedly is a plus for your league form.
But that does not excuse resting players for what is club football’s premier competition.
Pochettino did that and he got it badly wrong.
