LONDON — Twenty-eight years is a long time to wait for anything, never mind a victory at Chelsea, so Tottenham’s first win at Stamford Bridge since February, 1990 was always going to feel like a seminal moment.
The same could be said last season when Spurs secured a higher Premier League finish than Arsenal for the first time in over 20 years. Some victories or achievements matter more than others and Tottenham, under Mauricio Pochettino, are ending some pretty humiliating chapters in the club’s history as they continue to build themselves into a force to be reckoned with in London, in England and in Europe.
It is also significant that Tottenham are now measuring themselves against the best in the country and on the continent, rather than simply gauging their standing in comparison to their neighbours and rivals within the capital.
They are a team and a club on the up. They possess a rising star in management, Pochettino, and boast a team of bright young talents led by Harry Kane and Dele Alli, who could win their first trophy together in the FA Cup this season. When you add the anticipation of moving into a 61,000-capacity rebuilt White Hart Lane next season, a stadium that will massively boost Tottenham’s revenue streams, it is not difficult to understand why there is so much excitement and positivity around the club right now.
Certainly, after moving eight points clear of fifth-place Chelsea in the race for Champions League qualification, there is a sense of Spurs moving only in an upwardly direction.
Chelsea, in contrast, are a club in trouble. Every aspect that is a positive for Tottenham has become a negative for Chelsea, with the growing gap to the top four emphasising the problems facing the Stamford Bridge hierarchy from this point onwards.
Chelsea do not possess a Pochettino. They do have a proven manager in Antonio Conte, a man who delivered the Premier League title last season, but even Conte has admitted that he has no idea whether he will be at the club next year. The smart money is on a change of management this summer and although Chelsea have learned how to succeed amid the regular chaos and upheaval at the club, the prospects of the boom-and-bust cycle returning to boom next season appear slimmer than in the past.
Again, in comparison to Spurs, Chelsea possess a squad of players who are either too old, too disinterested or are simply not good enough. Their recent recruitment has been poor — an issue that has been a constant source of frustration for Conte — and the maxim that you only get what you pay for is beginning to ring true with the likes of Danny Drinkwater, Davide Zappacosta and the perennially-unfit Ross Barkley adding little or nothing to Conte’s squad this season.
Even club record signing Alvaro Morata was a downgrade on the player he replaced. The Spain international is a classy player but he is no Diego Costa.
Off the pitch, Chelsea also have problems that Spurs no longer have to face. The club are desperate to redevelop Stamford Bridge and expand its capacity in keeping with one of Europe’s top clubs, but the rebuilding plans remain on the drawing board. Will the ambition and desire for a bigger stadium still be there if the team suffers an extended period out of the Champions League? Will owner Roman Abramovich reignite his passion for the club or continue to run it with increasing prudence?
There are too many unknowns at Chelsea right now and those unknowns are threatening an uncertain future.
At Tottenham, though, there is only vibrancy, energy and excitement, with the real sense of a club being built on solid foundations and without a reliance on a wealthy benefactor. They have already usurped Arsenal as the major force in north London and now Chelsea have to learn how to live in Tottenham’s shadow.
Not since 1995 have Spurs ended a season as London’s top club, but only a cataclysmic collapse over the final seven games of this campaign will prevent Pochettino’s players from erasing another piece of unwanted history from the record books. They have left Arsenal behind and Chelsea are also trailing in their wake.
It can be too easy at times to talk of “Sliding Doors” moments or a shift in the balance of power, but it is difficult to put Spurs and Chelsea side by side and argue that the future is brighter at Stamford Bridge than at White Hart Lane. Spurs, of course, need to keep their foot on the pedal and begin to win the silverware that both Chelsea and Arsenal have collected over the years.
Even so, only one team in London is on the up right now and that is Tottenham.
Mark Ogden is a senior football writer for ESPN FC. Follow him @MarkOgden_
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