Antonio Conte has faced the media this afternoon, following his side’s dismal display in the NLD on Sunday.
The game against Arsenal (match report here) resurfaced more of the same problems for Spurs, falling behind yet again in the first half and having to somehow rescue the game in the second half. The start of the game however (up until Arsenal took the lead) saw Spurs press high early on in an aim to force Arsenal into a mistake. However, the Gunners simply by-passed the Tottenham press as if it wasn’t even there, slicing through our midfield line with ease.
Conte was questioned on the teams pressing tactics (via Football London):
“It depends also on the opponent. First half we started to press high. Sometimes you find opponent that is good and we work against the pressure. When you press high you leave space behind your back. If you have players like Saka, Martinelli and others, then you have to consider the characteristics of your defenders. You don’t want to risk being too open.”
Another worrying trend shown in the NLD was Heung-Min Son’s lack of form (more on that here). The South-Korean yet again provided barely anything in the final third, with nearly all of Tottenham’s chances coming through Harry Kane and Dejan Kulusevski. Son is currently sat on a measly four goals in the league, far behind his goalscoring heroics of last season.
Conte spoke on Son’s struggles (via Football London):
“For sure if we talk about Sonny, last season he scored 25 goals. This season he[‘s not scoring so much. For us it’s not good news because we count on his goals. Then we are talking about not robots, about a person a human. I’m the first to hope that Sonny starts to score with the pressure or without the pressure. This is football. We have to try to face the situation with the players. The most important thing I see during the training session and games is that Sonny tries his best.”
The NLD saw Pape Matar Sarr make his first ever league start for the club – providing a pretty decent performance despite the circumstances of the game. Spurs fans however will be hoping to see the return of Rodrigo Bentancur – as he returns from an injury sustained during the World Cup. The Lilywhites have clearly missed the Uruguayan during his absence, with midfield seeming to lack that bit of grit and determination, that Bentancur brings to the side.
Conte gave an update on Bentancur’s fitness ahead of the Manchester City game (via Football London):
“Team news like I said after the game against Arsenal, Rodrigo Bentancur trained with us and he’s available. He will be available for the game against City.”