Jekyll and Hyde performance enough to earn Tottenham 2-1 win
By Gary Pearson
Shameful first half performance
The anticipation of Antonio Conte’s home debut as Tottenham manager quickly turned into frustration with a shameful first half performance from the entire starting 11. Leeds were fully deserving of their 1-0 lead, but Spurs made it easy for a side battling at the foot of the table.
The home side’s abhorrent first half display was headlined by the complete absence of any press. Leeds comfortably walked the ball out of their own half and were barely troubled when advancing into Spurs’ final third.
It’s clear the majority of Spurs’ first side weren’t good enough to execute a system that requires quality at every position. The three centre backs were not brave or confident enough to advance with the ball, while Emerson Royal and Sergio Reguilon didn’t shown nearly enough with or without the ball.
Harry Winks looks like he should be playing with a Championship outfit and has ran out of time to redeem himself at Spurs. He has trouble completing elementary passes and always looks to play laterally or backward, a cardinal sin when playing a 3-4-3.
The combination of Winks and Hojberg was an abysmal failure. Hojberg couldn’t lift Winks’ performance, as the Dane had enough of his own deficiencies to battle.
Leeds, as expected, pressed high and relentlessly, opting to man mark Tottenham. The key to penetrating an intense press is one and two-touch ball movement combined with having the quality to win individual matchups. Tottenham failed to succeed on either component. Passing was yet again too slow, tentative, laboured and inaccurate, while Leeds had the beating of Spurs one on one all over the park.
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It was one the most abject halves of the season, which is saying a lot considering how many dismal showings Tottenham have endured.
The result is all that matters, though. You could see by how exhausted the players were the effort they put into the second half. The release of emotion at the final whistle shows just what the result means to Conte and his side.
With some reinforcements in January, Conte will get the best out of the players he chooses to keep.