Heavy defeat to Chelsea a good litmus test for Ange's army

Suddenly the Aussie alchemist's mettle was being tested, in the white hot crucible of a fierce London derby

Defeat to Chelsea is the first of the season for Spurs and Postecoglou.

When Ange Postecoglou calms down - and that may take a while - he will realise he needed a game like this, to find out what his players were really made of.

Two sent off and another two off injured to return who knows when: suddenly - and for the first time since swapping Glasgow for N17 - the Aussie alchemist's mettle was being tested, in the white-hot crucible of a fierce London derby.

Yes, Tottenham had gone to Arsenal, the derby graveyard of previous managers, and came through unscathed.

Yes, they had beaten Liverpool but that had been against nine men, who only just failed to hold out for a draw., This time the odds - or should that be gods? - were stacked against Spurs. And how.

And how they came through it; eventual defeat felt so much like another success. The home fans applauded the nine men on the final whistle having kept the volume on high throughout. That wouldn't have been possible since, well, Mauricio Pochettino was manager.

Cristian Romero's red card was a pivotal moment and Postecoglou must have known the volatile Argentinian would self-destruct sooner or later.

The defender's crowd-pleasing brand of no-prisoners-taken defending comes with a side order of recklessness and so it proved when he went in like a bulldozer on Enzo Fernandes.

Yes, he got the ball but the follow-through was seismic and once VAR had persuaded referee Michael Oliver to view the challenge on a monitor his exit was inevitable. Red card, penalty, and a three-match ban.

The demise of Micky van de Ven was pure misfortune. The Dutchman felt his hamstring twang at full pelt and that will inevitably mean weeks on the sidelines.

Two members of the medical staff had to help Van de Ven hobble towards the treatment room and while that slow and painful journey was going on Postecoglou decided James Maddison's evening had also run it's course. The England midfielder looked a tad surprised to get the hook but his ankle had taken a battering and this was already an encounter that only the fittest might prosper.

Postecoglou's problem solving for the Romero ejection required little brain power: Brennan Johnson, in for Richarlison and a fleet-footed menace on the left, had to be sacrificed for a centre-back.

That man was Eric Dier, a trusty servant of the Pochettino era and as dependable a deputy as you could wish for. But here's the thing - it was the ex-England man's first minutes under the Australian. Postecoglou had established Romero and van de Ven as his first-choice centre-back pairing come what may. And may finally came, with Emerson Royal, that most erratic of right-backs, replacing the Dutchman in the middle before Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg - Maddison's replacement - took over when Destiny Ugodie was dismissed after the break.

Chelsea's Nicolas Jackson runs in to score their side's fourth goal of the game and his hat-trick.

Davison Sanchez is no longer an option, having been moved on to Galatasaray in September, so could a Dier-Hojbjerg partnership continue for the forthcoming clashes with Wolves and Aston Villa?

And for the trip to Manchester City on Sunday, December 3? Maybe, unless Ben Davies, who wasn't on the bench for this one, reappears. Spurs have a decent record against the champions, but only at home. And if Maddison doesn't make it back by then, then a whole bunch of worsts are going to get feared.

But then this is Postecoglou we are talking about, a man who has transformed Tottenham's fortunes just by treating people like adults. Antonio Conte would have been busy throwing his arms up in despair and Jose Mourinho preparing his post-match against the referee.

Oliver sent Udogie off for a second yellow card offence - a reckless hacking down of Raheem Sterling - 10 minutes into the second half. How Jurgen Klopp must have chuckled to see Tottenham down to nine men and on the wrong end of contentious VAR decisions (though this particular call did not require any assistance).

Spurs refused to wilt, as they surely would have done under Conte and Jose. Dier had earlier slid in to stop Nicolas Jackson scoring and Emerson got his head in the way of a Sterling shot. And, straight after Udogie's exit, Hojbjerg somehow managed to deflect a Jackson header over the bar from virtually under it.

That roused the home fans and Postecoglou made another sensible decision by replacing Pape Matar Sarr in the middle with Rodrigo Bentacur. Sarr had been booked - for a pointless shoving match with Levi Colwill - and Bentacur, though little used this season, was a trusted battler under the previous regime.

The hour mark passed with the nine men still on level terms. Hojbjerg chased Sterling down and actually caught him as Tottenham's high line of defence was breached. Again, would that have happened under Mourinho or Conte, those joy-sapping gripe merchants? Goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, a previous Premier League unknown like his manager, did his bit too with a brave stop to deny Marc Cucurella, of all people.

The resistance was eventually broken, with Jackson slotting home three times to keep City at the summit. But Tottenham the title challengers? On this showing you'd still have to say 'why not?'