In an alternative universe – one with which Tottenham Hotspur fans would be extremely familiar – Spurs lose to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
This was not a good performance by Spurs in their second Premier League clash of the season. The quality levels were low, the beef levels stratospheric, peaking somewhere between Antonio Conte's popping veins and Thomas Tuchel's rage-swollen eyes in a post-match tête-à-tête that advocates of football's old-fashioned thuggery days could only purr over. But in the alternative universe, the one that played out as recently as last season (three times with Conte at the Spurs' helm), there is no unfettered conviction to walk away with a point amidst all the belligerence, particularly one filched in the 87th-minute. Not against Chelsea.
But arguably more crucially, there is not the depth of quality that Conte can now relish and utilise on command in that place.
