So far this season Spurs have been all feline grace and power, leaving the fans purring with delight. Yesterday all we could do was retch and heave, coughing up a giant spittle-ridden fur-ball that covered north London. We were heavily defeated and deserved it.

The Hammers completely dominated this match, not in terms of possession or territory – they were pinned back in their own half for extended periods – but the manner in which their tactics dictated the game’s shape and pattern. Spurs spent 90 minutes trying to catch up. Like some sadistic episode of the Crystal Maze, the boleyn boys set us a series of puzzles to which we could never find the answer.

Big Sam is fond of his equally large centre forwards. Poor man, he’s never quite got over the fact that Kevin Davies has got older as the years passed. As the Hammers struggle for form and goals, I swear he wakes at night in a cold sweat screaming, ‘Just give it to Kevin…’ before sheepishly realising he’s had to make do with Carlton Cole. Maybe he’s discovered the way out of this recurring nightmare. How about passing the ball? Worked a treat yesterday. Bereft of centre forwards, he packed his midfield and told the front men, or rather the least defensively minded midfielders, to close down in our half. We couldn’t play out from the back and could never settle on the ball. They seldom allowed Vertonghen to hold the ball so it ended up at Dawson’s feet, which in turn meant it was only a matter of time before they got the ball back again.

Elsewhere they closed down ferociously and funnelled our wide men into the middle where they were gobbled up by hungry defenders. We spent most of the time trying to thread the ball through non-existent gaps before giving up the ghost and just cut out the middle man by passing it directly to them. Eleven men back within 35 yards of goal is hard enough to overcome even on a good day, which this most certainly wasn’t. However, the hammers made it more difficult by playing the ball out of defence and then in the second half becoming increasingly adept on the counter. They certainly have a better grasp of the offside law than the Chel**a players demonstrated last week.

From Spurs’ perspective, this performance was devoid of any redeeming features. Lloris did all he could, Dembele was the best of the outfield players, a dubious honour, and Townsend at least occasionally took the game to our opponents although without end-product. Tottenham are a work in progress and there will be bad days. As I said recently, the surprise has been how well the squad has settled down. What concerns me most is how easily we forgot the lessons that apparently we have learned so far. They showed little movement and less patience. To break down defences like this, you have to move them around, stretch them with a bit of width and break that up with some direct running. Against Cardiff we scored in the last minute with our 29th goal attempt, yesterday we ran out of ideas or invention well before half-time.

Also, a few of the niggles that had been around, things that needed more work, became ruthlessly exposed as major faults. In response to the pressure, Villas-Boas rightly pushed up another midfielder but it should have been Dembele not Paulinho. I understand why the manager wants some passing from the back and the Moose did well enough but his shooting, ability to pick out a pass and above all his strength with the ball at his feet surely could have been better employed around the edge of the W Ham box.

There was no leadership or direction. Eriksen, lofty and aloof, played the game at his pace, oblivious of the fact that the game left him way behind. Sigurdsson and Townsend provided little width. Siggy failed to take up dangerous positions in the box to support lone striker Defoe while Townsend’s reluctance to cross with his right foot meant he was running inside and across the back four, where he was less dangerous. We get width from our full-backs. The lacklustre Walker did not exploit the space out wide while Naughton, a right-footer, also comes inside by instinct.

At the back, Dawson was exposed on three occasions, two around the half-way line and was furiously backpedalling for Morrison’s third but although every goal links to a greater or lesser extent to defensive failure, this blog will stick by its rule and praise good play when it happens. It was a shame the talented but dissolute Morrison should come good against us but that was a fine goal, weaving into the space left by Vertonghen as he rightly tried to do something different further up the pitch.

After a dull first half, we upped the tempo at the start of the second. This was our best spell, but when the chance came, Defoe, one on one, failed to lift the ball over the keeper’s legs. One further chance was cleanly hit and well-saved but straight at the keeper. And that was that. A corner at the other end, not for the first time in his Spurs career Vertonghen was drawn underneath a set-piece cross and Reid headed goalward. The ball rebounded to him from a team-mate and he slotted home. Then Lloris saved Vaz Te’s shot but the rebound hit the W Ham man as he fell. He knew little about it but in it went as Hugo threw his hands heavenwards. Morrison finished it off.

Good fortune in the first two goals – MOTD replay also showed Vertonghen being pushed in the back as he leapt, two hands but not picked up on in the analysis because it did not fit the chosen MOTD  narrative of tough West Ham – but a win that was completely and utterly deserved. Time for reflection during the international break but I suspect AVB would like play again tomorrow, just to get this out of our system.

If Sandro is fit, he has to return to offer much-need strength and drive in centre midfield. Rose could find his prospects improved by his absence – there’s been nothing down that left. Of the rest, Soldado, Paulinho and Eriksen need more time to get used to what’s being asked of them. I would rotate the squad for at least three cup games – some are being overplayed. The biggest question is this: Villas-Boas does not yet know his best eleven. He thought he did and he’s allowed this side time to gel, but the balance is not right yet. Plenty of time to ponder in the next fortnight.

The Y word debate overshadowed the build-up to this game. Fans responded in typical fashion – they ignored everything and did what they wanted. Plenty of chants with the Y word, although I can’t vouch for the suggestion that 10,000 voices shouted, “Pid” or “Mid” in unison. I could not hear any abuse from the opposition, although I read some reports of this on twitter and I’m not sure that the chant of ‘Paulo Di Canio’ late on was purely a vote of sympathy for the ex-Sunderland manager.

I’ve written about this before and so I’ve not repeated myself recently. I am probably in a minority of one as a Spurs fan who takes Baddiel seriously, it’s just that I don’t agree with him. I was around in the mid/late seventies when Spurs fans embraced the abuse they received in most away grounds and thus neutralised the hate. As a jew myself I understand better than most just how complex an issue this is. Instinctively I never use the word – not a thought-out position, I merely noticed last season that I’ve never used it to describe myself as a Spurs fan. Context is everything and in our hands it is not a term of abuse.

 

Billed as the clash between master and apprentice, this game transcended the hype.  In place of Mourinho’s knockabout pantomime villain schtick, we saw raw, compelling drama, a riveting spectacle in technicolour, 3D and surroundsound.  

This is what top class football looks like and Spurs were worthy contenders with every right to be there. There wasn’t a moment’s respite to be had as fortunes ebbed and flowed. It was tight and tense with a series of confrontations in every area of the field, the outcome of any one of which could decide the final result. At the finish, the relief that infused the pleasure indicated what more has to be accomplished to keep us up there as the season unfolds.   

Over the course of 90 minutes, we ran through the entire gamut of emotions. At kick-off it was hope and expectation. The media framed this as a battle between the managers but that fades to grey compared with the genuine edge surrounding this fixture. While early afternoon start-times never feel right, come the whistle the aggravation, the desperation to win against a side where we have a poor record, generated a powerful roar that drove on the early frantic exchanges. Make no mistake – the significance of this match went way beyond league position or London bragging rights. This was the real test of our credentials as a rising force and of the new Tottenham team. 

At Spurs, we know what follows expectation – disappointment. But these days there’s something different in the air. We had the better of a cagey first half hour. For much of the time the two formations matched up precisely, basically a 4-2-3-1, with Spurs making more of our possession. Dembele was busy, Eriksen the focal point and Townsend confident enough to take the attack to Chelsea down their left.  

Then the goal, a carbon-copy of the move that created the opener against Norwich. The same players, Soldado a touch to Eriksen who then slid the ball through to the onrushing Sigurdsson coming into the box on the diagonal, covering the same blades of grass. Instead of the far corner, Siggy drove on after a half-tackle to stroke it home at the near post. Part improvisation, part training ground and in the stands, pure joy. 

This was our best spell. Townsend became more prominent, his runs troubling Chelsea’s left hand side. His time at QPR has given him a confidence and determination to take the opportunity of first team football presented to him this season. He’s stronger and while Cole was unimpressed by his exaggerated stepovers, he’s overcome his main problem, a lack of awareness of what’s around him and is now a better judge of when to hold it and when to pass. He helped set up the move that enabled Paulinho to shoot inches wide at the near post. 

In these narrow margins games are won and lost. Our justified optimism was tempered by niggling doubts. As that ball slipped by the post, we knew chances would be few and far between. Whatever the pressure, they needed to go in. 

Sure enough, Chelsea came back into it towards the end of the half. They did not take the couple of chances that came their way and on one occasion Vertonghen tackled heroically to thwart another good opportunity.   

At Loftus Road, Redknapp may have taught Townsend how to become a Premier League winger but he also left him with some bad habits. Wide men have to get back to cover but too often he was drifting in no man’s land. Mourinho targeted our wings as the weakness from the beginning. In the first half, it was long balls from defence. During one injury break, Luiz and Ramirez were animatedly discussing how to float curling passes into the gap down our left. Naughton and the diligent, hard-working Siggy put paid to that apart from one move.  

Not so on the other side. A change in tactics with Ramirez moving to the middle and Mata coming on decisively shifted the balance of power. They pressed hard and were first to every loose ball. We began to be caught in possession. We looked up and no one was available as Chelsea flooded the midfield. Repeatedly exposed down the right and unable to get hold of the ball, Townsend came off to be replaced by Chadli as Villas-Boas desperately tried to catch up before the Blues ran away with the game. 

Pleasure turned to pain as our opponents took over. There is nothing more anxiety-provoking than the fine margins of an offside trap. With Torres running the channels and a midfield apparently perfectly adapted to defeat the trap, this was a stomach-churning time. Demeble worked tirelessly but Eriksen disappeared, Soldado could not hold the ball and contributed little and Chadli despite his imposing build melted away shortly after he appeared.  

Lloris was outstanding, several sprawling saves with body and feet at the onrushing forwards and fearlessly coming far from the comfort of his line to punch away the growing number of free-kicks curling into our box. Last week I noted that one of the factors behind our defensive security this season was that we were giving away fewer unnecessary free-kicks in our half. However, under pressure we gave away one too many, Terry equalising, too much room in the box.  

These were anxious times. AVB kept adjusting – Holtby for the fading Eriksen – but Chelsea dominated, at least until Torres was sent off. I have not seen any replays of this game so I’ll leave it to the comments section to judge what did and did not happen. I saw him go for the man not the ball as he and Vertonghen challenged but didn’t see an elbow. Already booked, the ref gave a second yellow.  

What I can be certain of is that this once fine footballer spent the entire match enveloped in a red mist of bitter frustration. Fine by me – he’s less effective that way – but if he spent half the energy expended in niggles, pettiness and feeling hard-done by on actually playing football, he could be great again.

His dismissal was the final shift in the game’s equilibrium. Full circle – the match ended in hope and expectation as Spurs came forward purposefully and with patience, shifting the ball from side to side to stretch the ten men. At one point Dawson, 30 yards from their goal, was our mst withdrawn outfield player. It nearly worked. Defoe was on for Soldado, a bold substitution from AVB to take the game to Chelsea despite the pressure we were under. He found space but missed the two chances that came his way. Fine margins again. 

Going home – relief to be honest. A point in a game we could have lost. We competed well but were overwhelmed too easily at the start of the second half. Eriksen and Soldado contributed little. Eriksen seemed unsure about his positioning when Chelsea had the ball and was aimlessly too far forward. Wingers have to track back. Chadli appeared lost.  

Siggy worked very hard all game. Naughton at left back did OK defensively but because he is not as comfortable on the ball as most of his team-mates, he gets caught in possession. Also, full-backs are important in our attacks, pushing up allowing our wide-men to come inside and get into the box, in turn vital if we have only one up front. Naughton is also right footed, so he comes inside too, denying us the options.

And what about the managers? A first-half match up with Our Andre getting more from his men than Jose the ugly sister but Mourinho ran the second period with Villas-Boas on the catch-up with considered substitutions to shift a balance that tipped finally only with the red card.

Last night Spurs cruised to an easy win against Villa in the League Cup. Four goals, all of them good but the first was a peach, Defoe delicately heading in Holtby’s delightful chip, delivered with the touch of a major-winning golfer that took out the entire defence in a single moment.

One theme of the blog this season has been the club’s development in the safe hands of Villas-Boas, now that he has the unequivocal backing of his chairman. Our Andre is rightly keen to have a go at all competitions and play a strong team in the early rounds of the EL and League Cup. I agree but it was clear to both of us that players tired towards the end of last season. He’s put that right by improving the quality and depth of the squad. Now we have genuine choices and the players are ambitious to play regularly.

Just take a look at the team sheets from last night – Villa fielded a reserve side, we put out an alternative first team. Not only that, he has players who suit his preferred basic system, so they slot in and are comfortable together. Different players, same set-up. When changes are made, they all slot in smoothly, rather than fitting together like an Ikea cupboard in the hands of yours truly. They know their manager wants them to do. There remains uncertainty – we weren’t as fluent as we can be for much of the time – but it works very well.

Contrast with a couple of years ago. We played a home Europa League tie, PAOK I think but can’t recall (sums up the EL but there you go), brought in decent players to the back four but they had not played together as a unit. Result – chaos and defeat. You sense that won’t happen under Our Andre. Three matches in six days, all won and rather than being tired, Spurs have created a winning momentum to take into Saturday and beyond.

Unfortunately there’s a limit to the value of games like these in judging the true merit of our players, because they get more space than is the case in the Premier League. However, Holtby stood out like a beacon, all effort and he’s got that left foot working a treat. As on Sunday, he found the channels and willing runners. He’s clearly desperate to become a first choice.

Sandro and Paulinho have the air of a long-term partnership that is going to be so good, and another goal from Paulinho, this one from a near post corner. Defoe took his chances well, scoring a second by taking the ball calmly round the keeper. He also had a hand in the build up for Chadli’s effort, our third, and began the move that led to his opener. Kane did well enough too, showing that he’s best not as an out and striker but when he can move around up front.

Having said all of this, Villa could have come back into the game when Tottenham were a goal up, after an incident which some are calling one of the best moments in football they have ever seen. Helenius ran through on goal, Vertonghen in hot pursuit. Superjan fell over and as he tumbled, grabbed the nearest point of stability, which happened to be the Villa player’s shorts. They came down but Helenius stayed upright, valiantly shooting with his shorts around his ankles, exposing his jockstrap to the watching millions. It’s what the game needs to remain popular.

No complaints if that had been a penalty and if so, Jan would have been sent-off. However, the referee allowed play to continue, I guess because he judged that Helenius did not seem to be impeded greatly. We can laugh about it now, suspect Paul Lambert isn’t amused. For Spurs, another four goals, none conceded, plus a feeling that things are going our way. Can’t complain about that.

I can’t claim to have seen every second of this one due to a combination of a flickering stream and domestic chores. Tottenham On My Mind – the Spurs blog that’s HONEST about housework. Ask yourselves this – do other blogs have an explicit position on hoovering?

Also a slight disruption to the routine at home this season, hence a couple of missed matches. I won’t dupe you into believing I have seen a match when in fact I haven’t so I would rather not write a report. But I’m still around, as a few regulars have asked, and no plans to change what the blog covers.

Yesterday’s launch of the Stop Stubhub campaign led by Spurs writers and the Supporters Trust generated a real buzz. Register your support by signing the petition here: www.change.org/stopstubhub More info, including our statement in yesterday’s article