Takeaways: Spurs 4-3 Leeds

Spurs signed off the first half of the season with a 4-3 victory over Leeds United on Saturday at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. You can read the match report here; the statistical overview of the match here; player ratings here; and Antonio Conte’s reaction to proceedings here. For now, here’s my take on Saturday’s action.

The 45-minute performances we’ve been so accustomed to seeing from Spurs continued once again on Saturday, and Spurs fell behind three times – the latest coming 14 minutes from time – but still managed to overcome Leeds. While most people will invariably be aghast at our constant need to emerge onto the pitch in the second half at a disadvantage, one must admire the spirit the lads have shown all season, something Antonio Conte alluded to when reflecting on the match:

“Maybe in a lot of games we were losing and then we came back. For this reason, I think the positive things are that we showed great character, great desire and great will not to give up and to believe, to believe in the win. I try every day to transfer this concept that we have to start the game and then until the end we need to fight and see what happened. Never give up, this is our mantra. This is the positive side.”

Indeed, evidence of the winning mentality Conte has been trying to instill into the players can be seen in our frequent responses to adverse circumstances – not only have we salvaged respectively league-high tallies of 13 points from losing positions in the Premier League and 7 points in the Champions League, but we have also had to do this with several injuries to key personnel for most of the season.

Against Leeds, Cristian Romero’s absence was felt, as was that of Heung-Min Son at times. The former seems to have a calming influence on Eric Dier, who has been a shadow of the player that started the season so solidly, and Dier looked lost at times on the right of the back three against Leeds, torn between covering space vacated by Royal or holding his position whenever Leeds broke with pace (see Summerville’s opener). Once he moved back into the middle, the defence – though still vulnerable (as evidenced by Leeds’ third) – looked a lot better with him in it. I look forward to having a fit Romero after the World Cup, but, given his injury record, whether or not we will get that remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, the absence of Son meant that we were generally unable to utilise the huge gaps Leeds left at the back, and the only players who really capitalised on these spaces going forward were Dejan Kulusevski and Emerson Royal (for better or for worse, I’ll leave that to the reader to decide), who were both unlucky not to score a couple in the first half.

This was similar to the Liverpool match last week in the sense that space was there to be attacked, but in Son’s absence, we were forced to pass backwards or take an extra touch due to the lack of runs in behind our opposition (a passage of play that led to Hojbjerg losing possession for Leeds’ opener). Kulusevski’s presence here was such a difference, as, without him, we lack willing runners able to stretch the play with great success – Royal can do this, but as we saw on the weekend, his lack of end product typically renders his forward exploits fruitless.

Although Harry Kane has been raking in the goals, he has generally not been himself in the other aspects of his game – his passing has been inaccurate all season, and there have been many matches where he has failed to make a substantial mark on the opposition, even when scoring (Arsenal, Man United, West Ham away in particular). Heung-min Son has been out of form all season too, and the lethargy in both players’ display has seen their telepathic connection somewhat diminished this year.

Further mitigating circumstances must be taken into account – we can debate all we like about whether or not players should be tired at such an early stage of the season, but notwithstanding that, Antonio Conte himself alluded to the influence of having less time on the training pitch with the players this season, as well as the tragic passing of Gian Piero Ventrone back in October ahead of our trip to Frankfurt.

Let’s not also forget that having to prepare for Champions League opposition in midweek is a completely different kettle of fish compared to Europa Conference League matches or no midweek matches, a luxury that we have had for the majority of Conte’s tenure until now.

Injuries, tough midweek matches, less time on the pitch, and the passing of a popular member of staff will all impact our players as they’re not robots, and these 45-minute performances can surely at least be partially explained by these. They have been so recurrent that they cannot be an accident, but rather, a deliberate ploy to preserve energy (mental as much as physical) in a marathon season, as Cristian Stellini has spoken about this in some of his press conferences over the past month.

However, once the World Cup has blown over, we must see more from the players, and irrespective of how good our comeback record is, too many slow starts will see us lose more points than we gain. This is something that has Hugo Lloris has recently alluded to, citing a commitment to seeing more improved displays after the World Cup:

“The guys gave their best, that’s the most important thing. We reached the next round of the Champions League, that was the main target, and we are still in a top four places. That’s the positive. The second part of the season will obviously be different and for sure we will have more energy to finish stronger and be more consistent in our performances.”

This sentiment has been reinforced by Dejan Kulusevski in an interview with the Evening Standard following Saturday’s victory, saying that the second half of the season will see a different, more improved Spurs side:

“I believe in the team. I think we will do a lot better. We have a lot of character and a lot of talent. We have a big second season right now. We will rest. Some will play at the World Cup – all the best for them. Then we will come back, ready and better.”

Whether or not the players live up to these words is a different story, but it’s comforting to see that they recognise that looking forward, these 45 minute performances must build their way up to 90 minute performances if we are to achieve what Conte wants us to achieve come the end of the season. For now, it’s another victory recorded without key personnel, a victory that consolidates our position in the top four ahead of the Qatar World Cup.