The Belgian praised his side for the maturity and composure they demonstrated in their 2-0 victory over the Blues on Wednesday night. Dembele put in another commanding midfield performance on Wednesday night. Twice in 2016 Tottenham Hotspur held the lead against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. They led 2-0 there in May but drew 2-2. They led 1-0 there in November and lost 2-1. Chelsea are a more experienced team than Spurs, a team that won the 2014-15 Premier League title and which will likely win this year too. But when Spurs were 2-0 up against Chelsea on Wednesday night, in their second game of 2017, they did not fold. They closed out the win with remarkable maturity and control, barely allowing Chelsea a chance in the final 40 minutes of the match. It showed in the clearest possible way that this Spurs team have grown up. Or, as Mousa Dembele put it afterwards, they “played like adults”.

The Belgian midfielder put in another authoritative performance, dominating the middle of the pitch, the area that Spurs controlled. But what Dembele pointed to afterwards was how Spurs stuck to their plans all game. They did not get over-excited when ahead, try to change their game or even drag the Blues into a scrap. They just continued to play their game, and reaped the rewards. Vertonghen stresses importance of Spurs beating fellow top six teams. “We knew how Chelsea would play,” Dembele said afterwards. “We know they have a lot of quality as well. It is not the first time we have played well against Chelsea. But this time when we went in front we did not panic, we kept playing and we wanted to score the second.”

That loyalty to Pochettino’s masterplan is where Dembele sees the difference between the old Spurs and the new Spurs. Pochettino said over the summer that this team needed to mature, and to take the last step towards success in their heads.  “That was very important and the difference between this and the previous times we played them,” Dembele said. “When we went in front in those games we tried to change the way we were playing, we wanted to battle. But this time we kept to our game and we played more liked adults. Yes, we played like adults. We were very relaxed.”