Mauricio Pochettino has made the impossible possible at Tottenham - and the only way is up

It is only very recently that Spurs regarded just qualifying for the Champions League once as something wondrous, now it feels like the norm

It was win that made such a difference for Tottenham Hotspur as a club, but didn’t exactly mean that Mauricio Pochettino would be doing any different afterwards.

“Winning here at Stamford Bridge again is a massive thing again, for our fans and for Tottenham,” the Argentine stated. “But it's still only three points. I celebrate the same as I did in the past.”

That might be true, or might just be a line, but it certainly seems to be part of the mindset that Pochettino wants to fire this team with. The Spurs boss wants to make sure that victories like the 3-1 comeback at Chelsea are not seen as extra special by his players, because knows they really need to become routine if they are to properly challenge for the extra special trophies.

Through this, Pochettino has made something else routine.

This is a new breed of Tottenham (Reuters)

So much of the talk after the game was naturally about Spurs winning at Chelsea for the first time in 28 years, and while that is naturally hugely important in terms of history and status, much more important is its consequence. The result leaves Tottenham eight points clear of Chelsea with seven games left, and thereby virtually certain of making the Champions League for the third year running.

That they are likely to be the only London club in the competition and have managed it at the expensive of such wealthier locals like Arsenal and Chelsea, only makes it all the more impressive.

It is still wholly impressive on its own terms, and really shouldn’t be overlooked.

It is only very recently that Spurs regarded just qualifying for the Champions League once as something wondrous, but also something that so often seemed frustratingly beyond the club. A typical illustration of what they used to be came in the last season they finished in the top four before Pochettino arrived, when they still missed out on the elite competition because Chelsea themselves went and won it.

That, as has been so discussed, was just so Spurs.

That, as Pochettino made a point of stressing after the game, was what he most wanted to change when he arrived. He wanted a new Spurs. He has undeniably managed that.

Eriksen fired Spurs on their way to a famous win at the Bridge (AFP)

A big thing for the club like just qualifying for the Champions League has now become a little thing, something to indeed be expected.

And for all the talk of the ceilings this side still have to smash - like potentially beating Chelsea to the FA Cup and that first trophy - that really shouldn’t be underestimated. It represents huge overachievement for the manager already.

The root of it has also been through that mindset, through the manager’s view of making such wins routine.

For all the quality in his side, and all the physical work they put in as such a highly co-ordinated unit, one of the manager’s greatest influences has been psychological.

Tottenham now look certain of Champions League football again next season (AFP)

There is just a resilience to Spurs, and a resilience that has so often been missing. That is now what most stands out about them.

Consider the last few weeks alone. They have faced setbacks like the defeat to Juventus that would have completely deflated their season in previous times, but not now.

This is now such a difficult team to play, as Chelsea particularly found in the closing stages of this defeat.

That 3-1 scoreline actually illustrated that resilience in many ways, and many times over.

Alli showed toughness to end up as Spurs' matchwinner (Getty)

There was first of all the fact that Chelsea actually scored the first goal, and seemed to be so set up to continuously and successfully counter a Spurs who would be forced to step out.

In that kind of situation, in a big away game, against this specific club and on this specific pitch, Tottenham would have so often meekly lost in the past.

They didn’t. They stood up, and stood very strong.

There was then the identity of the man that won the game, someone who almost personifies the situation.

There is an ongoing argument over whether this is Dele Alli’s worst season since arriving at Spurs and, whether that is true or not, Pochettino did admit that he is going through a “tough period”. He has been criticised for form and diving, and recently lost his place in the England starting XI.

Tottenham are now heading the right direction under Pochettino (AFP)

That could well have been the easy excuse for folding here, for hiding… but neither he nor his team did either.

He instead displayed bravery of expression to go with the bravery of his game, having the confidence to so gloriously and deftly take down the ball for the key second goal, having displayed the aggression to win it for Christian Eriksen for the first.

For the third, Alli showed similar presence of mind to eventually prod the ball home. It stood out all the more because so many Chelsea players were falling over.

They were facing a side that no longer falls in on themselves. Spurs are only looking up, and much further than wins at Stamford Bridge.