Spurs manager Antonio Conte has stated his players did not have “the war” inside of them as they slumped to a dismal 2-0 defeat away at Old Trafford.
The Lilywhites delivered their worst performance of the season so far – making it a comfortable night for the home side.
Conte spoke on his players performance:
“In this type of game you need to arrive and not make big mistakes. You need to arrive with the war inside of you, ready to fight a war and you need to know at the end of the game you die or your opponent died. From the start we didn’t match this aspect. We can improve and we need to continue to work. It’s right with the club to analyse with the club why when the level is very high we are struggling.
The Lilywhites offered very little and were lucky to be level at half-time. Fans were hoping for better in the second half however matters only got worse as in the 47th minute, Fred’s deflected effort nestled into the bottom corner.
Spurs never seemed as if they could equalise, and the game was done and dusted when MOTM Bruno Fernandes smartly curled his effort into the far corner to make it 2-0.
Despite the woeful display from the side, it took until the 82nd minute for Conte to make his first change – which surprised and frustrated many Spurs fans.
Conte on those substitutions:
“With Kulusevski and Richarlison out injured it was difficult to change the game. With Lucas and his tendon we are trying to keep balance, we are trying not to push him too much. We don’t want again as he had a setback two weeks ago.
The solution to the bench today we played with the three midfielders and only had the two strikers. We have many young players, this game are difficult for all players and for young players much more difficult.”