Player Ratings: Spurs 4-3 Leeds

Spurs’ 4-3 win over Leeds United yesterday at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium yet again showcased the good, the bad and the ugly side of Antonio Conte’s men. Here are my manager and player ratings from the match:

Antonio Conte – 8: Sensible XI, reverting to a 3-4-3 (which, contrary to the belief of many readers) we look better in at the moment, and cannot be held accountable for the individual errors that saw Leeds take the lead three times today.

Gambled with the fitness of Kulusevski and Richarlison by starting them both, and it was a decision that paid off. Substitutions were excellently timed – Sanchez contributed to both goals, Doherty had a big part to play in the third, and Bissouma’s introduction forced Leeds into dealing with a different system. Let’s hope he signs a new contract!

Starting XI:

Hugo Lloris – 5.5: Oh dear. Yes, made an outstanding stop to thwart Summerville, but should have saved his earlier goal and Rodrigo’s first, both of which ere hit straight at him.

Emerson Royal – 5: God loves a trier, but it seems like the Spurs faithful do not. Should have scored after being presented with decent openings by Kulusevski and then Davies, and was one of the bodies culpable for Leeds’ opener, but never hid and as always, was ever a willing outlet on the right.

In short, the hate for him needs to stop. The cheers at his substitution will do him no good, and as long as he’s in a Spurs shirt, he needs support.

Eric Dier – 5: Seems a shadow of the player that started the season so robustly as the centre-piece of Conte’s back three, with his hesitant lack of communication with Royal enabling Summerville to sneak in for the opener and his lack of awareness playing Rodrigo on for Leeds’ second.

Nevertheless, he’s hardly been rested, playing every game this season, and has been shuffled across the back three due to Romero’s injury – fares better when the Argentine is in the side.

Clement Lenglet – 5: Struggled a lot with Leeds’ intensity, and his long balls lacked their typical accuracy, with the Frenchman only completing 6 of his 12 long passes with success (via SofaScore) before being substituted for Sanchez.

Ben Davies – 7: Was arguably our best defender on the day, and until Sanchez answered, seemed the only defender willing to put his body on the line and match the tenacity of our visitors to the point where you wouldn’t think he had upcoming international commitments. Well-taken goal and crossfield pass to Doherty for Spurs’ third.

Ivan Perisic – 6: Seemed rather fatigued throughout, and his corner delivery was uncharacteristically shoddy, registering a solitary successful cross from thirteen attempts (via SofaScore). However, with him on the pitch there is always a chance that he’ll deliver, and one of those corners did yield the first equaliser.

Rodrigo Bentancur – 8: Matchwinner and has already surpassed his entire career goal tally to date, Bentancur has genuinely emerged as a key player for Spurs. Recorded 100% shot accuracy, 100% dribble success, he won possession 11 times, took the ball into the final third seven times, won four duels, had two shots and scored from both, made two interceptions and one clearance (via football.london). Shame a needless yellow has ruled him out of the Boxing Day trip to Brentford – he will be missed.

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg – 6.5: Like so many others on the day, was not at his best, losing all 5 of his ground duels and losing possession 19 times (via SofaScore). Nevertheless, he gave everything and kept pushing us up the pitch in our infinite pursuit of equalisers. Like Bentancur, seemed to benefit from Bissouma’s introduction as Leeds dropped deeper later on.

Dejan Kulusevski – 8.5: Outstanding throughout, and I know Bentancur grabbed the all-important goals, but Kulusevski had the beating of the Leeds defence every time he got on the ball. Recorded 12 successful dribbles yesterday – more than anyone has managed all season – and created four chances for his teammates from those dribbles, including Bentancur’s winner (via Sky Sports). How Spurs have missed him.

Harry Kane 7.5 – Despite it being far from his best performance, he was still one of Spurs’ better players on the day. Excellent take for the first equaliser, unlucky not to score in the build-up to Davies’ goal, and the quick, incisive first-time pass to Kulusevski had a huge part to play in the winner.

Richarlison – 5: Was great to see him and his usual hustle and bustle back in the line-up, he did little to threaten Leeds and was hooked off for Bissouma at 2-2 in the second-half. Needs more time to adapt to Conte’s system.

Substitutes:

Davinson Sanchez – 7: Although his positioning and all-around anticipation of the build-up to Leeds’ third was shambolic, he brought a tenacity to proceedings that Lenglet did not, snapping into tackles and pushing up the pitch as Spurs chased parity. Contributed importantly to the third and fourth goals.

Matt Doherty – 6.5: Replaced the struggling Emerson Royal to good effect, popping up at the back post and causing problems for the visitors. His dangerous cross was headed out to Bentancur for his first goal.

Yves Bissouma – 7: Gave Leeds something different to think about being the extra man in midfield, and won the foul that led to Tyler Adams’ sending-off.

Lucas Moura – N/A: Came on for the last couple of minutes to preserve Kulusevski and help Spurs see out the win.