Gary Cahill believes that Crystal Palace allowed Tottenham to be as ruthless as they were in their 4-0 defeat but deemed Spurs fit to compete at the top of the Premier League. 

 

A first-half capitulation witnessed Spurs score four goals before the break as Heung-min Son hit a double that tarnished Palace’s impressive away record against the top six. 

 

Cahill moved to the Eagles this summer on a free from fellow London rivals Chelsea as he spent a season on the sidelines managing only two Premier League appearances during Maurizio Sarri’s short reign. 

 

“Spurs were very good today,” The Palace defender said. 

 

“I speak about basics, but on the ball, they have players with ability but out of possession they were swarming us. 

 

“Every time we went to make one-two passes there was two or three players in there closing us down. They were very good, we allowed them to be good so probably a combination of the two. 

 

“I have been on both sides, so when you have a position to play free-flowing football you have three or four options every time. So when we was slightly out of position it just made it easy for them. 

 

“There is always an expectation level being at a big club, you want to be challenging for the title. It is alright saying top tour, but I am sure these players here and the fans expect to be challenging. 

 

“This is a clean slate for them, but they certainly have the experience to get to the [Champions League] final again, and I am sure they will want to do that again.” 

 

After sitting out the majority of last season, Cahill also expressed his delight of being back on the pitch and enjoying playing football on a regular basis again at Crystal Palace. 

 

“Yeah, It is what I have done all my career apart from last year. The career is too short to be sat watching so I am happy to be back out there playing football – the rollercoaster with its ups and downs. 

 

“You get that feeling, you want to go out, you want to perform and you want to win."