Yesterday’s 2-0 win over Everton at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was another very positive step in the right direction under Antonio Conte.
There were many encouraging aspects of both the performance and ultimately, the result. Although the first-half performance was lacking in intensity and invention, the second-half response from the players was very encouraging.
Although we had 10 shots in the first half (stats courtesy of SofaScore), only one of those was on target. After the restart, we managed 11 shots, with 6 of those on target, 2 of those obviously yielding goals. While Everton missed 2 big chances on the break first-half, we restricted Everton to absolutely nothing shots-wise second-half.
What was even more encouraging about this response was how it came after several obstacles that ordinarily would conspire against us: a tough midweek European match; resolute opponents that had only conceded 9 goals up to yesterday’s match; and obviously, the loss of Richarlison 6 minutes into the second-half with a calf injury.
Ironically, Richarlison’s injury, although obviously a great shame and an unwanted, enforced change, ended up being the matchwinner for me – the switch to a midfield three saw us push further up the pitch, suffocating Everton (as shown by their lack of shots on goal), and allowed Hojbjerg and Bentancur to push on and drive at the visitors’ goal (as shown by their link-up for Hojberg’s goal.
Captured via the BBC, Hojbjerg himself spoke of how the formation change, albeit enforced, swung things in our favour after the restart:
“When you play with two in the middle and turn to three, it gives you an extra man. You can find your position and be a bit more patient. It helped us maintain the ball, which we need to do better.”
Indeed, Hojbejerg’s last words regarding what ‘we need to do better’ highlight how, despite sitting in third and a point from the top of the table, everything can still be deemed a ‘work in progess’ under Conte – after all, he’s not even been at the club for a year yet.
Yes, there are always things to work on and points for improvement – the first-half wasn’t great; without Kulusevski, we still look a bit clunky up top playing a 3-4-3; and our defending in recent weeks has left a lot to be desired.
However, our overall results and our position in the table up until now indicate that everything seems to be moving in the right direction, and last night was a further testament to that. COYS!