Tottenham can only blame themselves for Wembley woes

The Tottenham Hotspur players can only blame themselves for any Wembley Stadium woes after Sunday’s 2-1 loss to London rivals Chelsea.

Ahead of Sunday’s clash with London rivals Chelsea at Wembley Stadium, the Tottenham Hotspur squad had to know what narratives would exist if the club dropped its first “home” game of the current campaign. After all, recent history suggest Spurs can’t win big matches at Wembley, and a loss to the defending league champions would do nothing to silence such doubts.

Water remains wet, the sky is still blue, and Tottenham found yet another way to break the hearts of supporters during a match at Wembley. After being gifted an equalizer off the head of Chelsea’s Michy Batshuayi eight minutes from time, the Spurs backline awarded Marcos Alonso with more than enough space to notch a brace and bury a game-winner in the 88th minute.

Even before the final whistle sounded, one could find social-media hot takes scorching Tottenham for dropping yet another game at Wembley and mentioning how Spurs still can’t earn results in Champions League, FA Cup and league fixtures played at the stadium. Criticisms about the atmosphere before and during the match didn’t help suppress fears Tottenham won’t have any true home-pitch advantage until their new venue opens next summer.

Manager Mauricio Pochettino is now tasked with reminding his squad how well they played in the Chelsea loss while also explaining Spurs can only blame themselves for not snatching at least a point. Tottenham weren’t dominated en route to a 2-1 defeat to Chelsea. If anything, Spurs bossed the majority of the action between the two goals scored by the visitors.

Tottenham No. 1 Hugo Lloris is one of the best and most dependable goalkeepers in the league, which is why it’s so stunning when he has what anybody would deem to be a poor performance. Whether or not you believe he should’ve better positioned himself ahead of Alonso’s stunning free kick that hit the back of the next halfway through the opening frame is a matter of opinion. The 30-year-old has received criticism for allowing Alonso’s winner to slip through him with a draw well within reach.

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Sunday wasn’t Lloris’ finest outing in a Tottenham shirt, but no one player should be blamed for the scoreline. The hosts made nothing out of 14 corners. Harry Kane, who is, once again, failing to score in August, squandered multiple opportunities, and he has hit the woodwork in each of Tottenham’s first two games of the season. Dele Alli was an invisible man throughout the loss.

The good news, looking ahead, is that Tottenham should be able to break this supposed Wembley jinx sooner rather than later. Spurs should make easy work of Burnley on August 27 so long as they play as well as they did versus Chelsea. Matches versus Swansea City and Bournemouth should be wins. The Tottenham attack could torch the Liverpool backline in the middle of October unless that unit improves.

It’s possible this past Sunday’s game offered a painful reminder to players, Pochettino and supporters this is not a normal season for Spurs. All within the club attempting to make Wembley a temporary home remains a feeling-out process on and off the pitch, and that’s going to be the case up through the fall. There will be highs and lows, and some lows will hurt more than others.

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Spurs proved on Sunday they can hang with any competition in the league at Wembley. All Tottenham need to do now is win. A comfortable victory in front of thousands of overjoyed supporters can do wonders for any team in any sport, and Spurs desperately need such a result soon to help make Wembley a more inviting venue before the heart of the campaign kicks off.