Tottenham has full self-determination in the relegation race with West Ham. The Hammers, after losing consecutively to Arsenal and Brentford, are stuck in the relegation zone. With that advantage, Spurs only need 1 point in the last 2 rounds (against Chelsea and Everton) to be qualified.
The task is so easy, but Roberto De Zerbi's team chose a more difficult way, which is to lose to Chelsea in the context that The Blues are going through their worst form in a decade. The Stamford Bridge home team has not had any home wins in the Premier League since January. Not only that, they also just lost to Man City in the FA Cup final. A few weeks ago, Nottingham's reserve squad was also strong enough to defeat Chelsea right on the away field.
The voice of history does not support Tottenham as they have only had 1 victory at Stamford Bridge since 1990 (winning in 2018). Before Roberto De Zerbi arrived, many Spurs fans were worried that they would be relegated if they lost at this stadium. Luckily for the "Roosters", their opponent "The Hammer" lost 2 consecutive matches. If it weren't for this time, De Zerbi's team might have been relegation to the Championship.
Tottenham's playing style in the recent defeat was overestimated. The wing attacks lacked speed, many headers straight into the opponent's center were too easy to read. Throughout the first half, Tottenham's creativity was almost zero. When James Maddison came on in the second half, things were not much better.
De Zerbi appeared annoyed outside the touchline when he saw his team's playing style was much lower than expected. They had many times when they needed to be more aggressive in attacks and cherish opportunities. The previous match against Leeds also had a similar scenario. Richarlison had a chance to increase the score to 2-0 but missed it unfortunately, and then Spurs were equalized by the opponent.
Because De Zerbi arrived too late, the assembly of the squad in the final rounds could not be in time to reach a perfect state. Tottenham's squad still has many good players, but no team can play well if they change coaches for the 2nd time in a season (3 people).
De Zerbi has too little time to prepare when he replaces Igor Tudor. There are players who are rated well but are still young like Archie Gray or Lucas Bergvall, they have not started since the 12th. 4. The Italian strategist prioritizes experienced players, breathing life and fighting spirit into them to get through this final stage, before redoing everything from next season.
What is worrying at this time is that Tottenham has not shown signs of being able to play their last match of this season (against Everton) in a completely different form. In the match against Chelsea, the 46-year-old coach only made 3 substitutions when he brought on Pape Matar Sarr, James Maddison and Djed Spence. The forward line, although unable to score the 2nd goal, looking on the bench, no one is still confident enough to change the situation.
Dominic Solanke may return in the last match of the season after not playing due to injury since April 25. Maddison is the player with the greatest ability to create breakthroughs, but De Zerbi shared that the English midfielder cannot play for more than 20-25 minutes because he has just returned from an ACL injury.
Starting from a comfortable position when West Ham continuously fell, Tottenham put themselves in a difficult position again. They only need 1 point against Everton to be qualified. However, Everton also wants to win, even win big to hope to get a ticket to play in European cups according to an unimaginable scenario in round 38. I don't know if Spurs will overcome this final barrier or not?
