Antonio Conte assesses crossing issue of Tottenham Hotspur in their 1-0 win against Watford
Antonio Conte has given his thoughts on the problems Tottenham Hotspur had faced with their crossing during the match against Watford. They were left frustrated on the night as they won against the hosts by a 1-0 scoreline after a late goal from Davinson Sanchez saved the day.
Claudio Ranieri’s side caused some issues in the first half, even though they failed to create chances from it. Tottenham were better after the break, but their first clear cut chance came only after the half-hour mark when Lucas Moura fed Son Heung-Min, but the resulting shot got saved by Daniel Bachmann. Spurs eventually scored in the end during stoppage time when Sanchez scored from Son’s freekick and won them the three points.
Speaking in the post-match presser (h/t Football.London), Conte has expressed that the wing-backs have to improve with their crossing and its effectiveness as it is crucial to their system. He admitted that the task is tiring but has conveyed that they still have room to grow.
“For sure, we need to improve in this aspect, because when you play with this system, with this formation, the wing-backs are very important. When the ball arrives there, we must be more effective. I know very well that this is a role where you expend a lot of energy. But at the same time, we have young players with space for improvement.”
Spurs have room to grow
Watching that performance was tiresome and, it gave flashbacks of what happened in the second half against Southampton. We were one dimensional on the day, and it seemed like the Hornets had it easy as it suited them to deal with the crosses.
Whatsmore they did not seem to have any danger in their trajectory, and we got shut out multiple times with little to no effort. We need to fare well in this regard and use the wing-backs in a way that we are not just spamming crosses for the sake of it.
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The irony is that we needed a cross from a set piece to win the game. Who knows, we may not have won the match had Ranieri’s men did not switch off and defend the box well. Even Bachmann, who had a fantastic display, read the play poorly, which gave us the win.
In a way, it feels like the win was not deserved but looking at the last game, we were robbed of a victory. For that reason, we would gladly accept some luck in our favour to assist us in pushing for the top four places.
The Italian boss praised Hugo Lloris and his attentiveness, which pushed us forward to get the win in the end. Lloris had faced no trouble for most of the match except the two chances that challenged him in the second half. The skipper yet again showed us his consistency and earned himself a clean sheet in the process. We hope Daniel Levy and Fabio Paratici takes note of it and extend his contract by giving him what he deserves.
