Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Chelsea: Five things we learned from the match

What was hyped up as a massive London derby between two potential title contenders (Tottenham and Chelsea) turned out to be a stalemate marred by some suspect refereeing. The match was a good one despite the lack of goals, but both teams will have gone away from the match feeling like they could have taken all 3 points.

While Andre Villas-Boas was content with the point, Jose Mourinho believed that his side deserved better and even questioned the red card handed out to Fernando Torres by referee Mike Dean. Nevertheless, there were several talking points after the match. Let’s take a look at 5 things fans learned from this particular encounter:

Torres with Mourinho after the striker was sent off

Torres isn’t a spent force – The Spaniard’s spell at Chelsea has been marred with blood, sweat and tears. Yet on Saturday he showed that he isn’t ‘over the hill’ as some would suggest. He looked confident on the ball and linked up well with the attacking midfielders behind him. He even managed to beat defenders and made a few good runs. He was controversially sent off by Mike Dean but it shouldn’t take away from the fact that he put in a very good performance. If Mourinho can keep him motivated, fans can expect El Nino to score a few goals.

Christian Eriksen

Eriksen should be a regular for Spurs – Spurs went on a massive spending spree during the summer and brought in quite a few talented players. Christian Eriksen arrived with quite a reputation and so far has lived up to it. Against Chelsea he put in a brilliant performance and was the instigator of the move that led to the Spurs’ goal. He has looked well at home in the #10 position and likes to drift onto the wings on occasion. Of all the players that joined Spurs this summer, he has looked the best and deserves to be a regular in the first team.

Frank Lampard

Lampard should be used as a squad player – It’s something that has been evident for the last 2 seasons now. Frank Lampard, a man who was and is idolised by the Stamford Bridge faithful, is no longer the player he once was. It’s clear that he shouldn’t be a regular starter anymore. Nevertheless, he can still be a useful squad player if used correctly. Given that he isn’t a natural deep-lying midfielder, he should be played only against weaker teams or should be subbed in whenever Chelsea need a goal. He will go down as a Chelsea legend but he shouldn’t start every game anymore.

Jermain Defoe: deserves more game time?

Defoe deserves to start ahead of Soldado – Roberto Soldado has scored 2 goals for Spurs in the League so far; both have been penalties. At the moment he hasn’t quite settled in and he isn’t getting the kind of service he was used to at Valencia. Soldado is the type of striker who will struggle without the correct service. Jermain Defoe, on the other hand, likes to drop deep on occasion and can certainly shoot from distance. At the moment, the Englishman should defintely be starting ahead of the Spaniard because he doesn’t need too many chances to score.

Mike Dean (furthest left) sends off Chelsea’s Fernando Torres (not in picture)

The standard of refereeing in the Premier League is poor – It’s something that has been well-known for a while now; the game on Saturday was just another example of it. Torres was given a second yellow for a 50-50 challenge on Vertonghen while the Belgian got away scot-free. In such a situation, either both players should be booked or neither should be booked. The challenge wasn’t really a foul in the first place, and the fact that Vertonghen should have been off earlier for committing a bookable offence only made the call seem worse. It’s evident that the so-called ‘best League in the world’ has some of the worst referees around.