With thanks to Declan Mulcahy:-

Definitive Days No.11
Chelsea 2 Tottenham Hotspur 1
19 May 2026

Thanks to Cassim Patel for capturing this image

For the second consecutive match Spurs failed to make significant progress in the fight against relegation. Thankfully West Ham United lost both of their equivalent games.

Spurs were relatively passive for the first three-quarters of the contest today before displaying some urgency in the final quarter. Why couldn't they have produced this kind of commitment earlier? Did the substitutes transform the team? If so De Zerbi needs to change the starting XI he has used for the last three games though Maddison is unlikely to be fit enough to start.

Everything now hinges on the final two pairings Spurs at home to Everton and West Ham hosting Leeds United.

Spurs still control their destiny. The only combination of results that would relegate Spurs is if they lose while the Hammers win. While the odds favour Spurs it would be very complacent to think that they can't be relegated.

This is a team with fairly fragile confidence. As has been shown in earlier games a significant negative effect can utterly transform the outcome. Witness the red card for van de Ven at home to Crystal Palace or the penalty conceded against Leeds United last week. An unlucky event of this type in the final match could unfortunately snatch relegation from the jaws of safety.

Spurs need to be seen to control their own destiny and beat Everton on Sunday. If they merely survive because West Ham can't obtain a result against Leeds, Spurs will be perceived as a club who only stayed up because of the efforts of other teams. This will then be endlessly recycled by the media for the foreseeable future.

De Zerbi deserves a lot of credit. He has significantly improved the team's performance. There is clearly a system in place which wasn't evident before. The players know the positions they should take up and how the ball should be moved around. It wasn't always effective today but it is a huge improvement over what went before.

De Zerbi is also limited by the number of injuries to important players. Taking that into account the number of points he has obtained in the six matches to date is impressive.

He made an interesting point in his post-match press conference. Last year the club had a huge match at the end of the season. They won it and a trophy but this didn't transform the club's fortunes. Again Spurs have a late season game with profound implications - whether or not they will continue to be a Premier League team. He not unnaturally considers this a more important contest with far greater implications for the club's future.

So on to Sunday. Spurs control their destiny though their safety is not guaranteed. We must hope that Spurs positively impact the outcome by beating Everton in which case whatever the Hammers do will be irrelevant.

. Spurs Odyssey match report

. Declan Mulcahy's series "A dozen definitive days" - Part One
. Declan Mulcahy's series "A dozen definitive days" - Part Two
. Declan Mulcahy's series "A dozen definitive days" - Part Three
. Declan Mulcahy's series "A dozen definitive days" - Part Four
. Declan Mulcahy's series "A dozen definitive days" - Part Five
. Declan Mulcahy's series "A dozen definitive days" - Part Six
. Declan Mulcahy's series "A dozen definitive days" - Part Seven
. Declan Mulcahy's series "A dozen definitive days" - Part Eight
. Declan Mulcahy's series "A dozen definitive days" - Part Nine
. Declan Mulcahy's series "A dozen definitive days" - Part Ten

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