Tottenham duo fail Antonio Conte test in West Ham win as unlikely hero emerges’ Tottenham moved into the top four of the Premier League with a hard-fought 2-0 win over London rivals West Ham on Sunday.
Antonio Conte will be a happy man from his home with Italy after his side came through a difficult test against West Ham to move back into the Champions League places. Express Sport takes a look at four things the Tottenham boss will have learned from the match.
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More Needed From Richarlsion And Kulusevski
It’s exactly this type of game when Kane is being isolated by the opposition’s defence that Tottenham needs their other attackers to step up. Richarlison found himself in some nice positions in the first half but was unable to create any real openings.
Dejan Kulusevski had even less of the ball down Tottenham’s right and hardly threatened throughout. It was telling that Tottenham’s opener came from the two wing-backs who had pushed up higher than any other Spurs player.
It was only the second league game of the season that Son Heung-min was benched in favour of Kulusevski and Richarlison. It might not be an experiment Tottenham try again any time soon as Son found the net just minutes after coming off the bench.
Skipp Crucial In Bentancur Absence
Rodrigo Bentancur’s injury couldn’t have come at a worse time for Tottenham with the 25-year-old establishing himself as Conte’s most creative midfielder. He helped provide that link-up between attack and defence and was the predominant man on the ball, but his injury means Tottenham need to turn to someone else for the foreseeable future and may have found an unlikely hero in Skipp.
Skipp had to work his way back into Conte’s thinking after struggling with a number of fitness issues, but he impressed against AC Milan earlier in the week and was everywhere once again in Sunday’s derby against West Ham. While naturally, Skipp fits into a holding position, Skipp was given more licence to roam forward while Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg tidied things up in front of the defence.
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VAR Controversy
VAR is in the spotlight once again this week following an emergency meeting from Howard Webb after the controversial decision to allow Brentford’s equaliser against Arsenal and there may well be a need for another one to understand what the handball rule actually is. Thilo Kehrer appeared to get away with a blatant handball in the first half inside the box with both Michael Oliver and the VAR quickly waving away protests.
Kehrer’s hand was to the side of his body when Richarlison flicked the ball up and hit the defender on the arm, blocking the pass to Harry Kane. You get the feeling there’s going to be an overhaul of the VAR system ahead of next season with decisions being questioned every week at the moment.
Classic Conte Goal
Nobody would have been more pleased to see Tottenham’s full-backs combine for their opening goal than Conte. The Italian was practically the man responsible for introducing high-flying full-backs into the Premier League.
Under normal circumstances, Ben Davies and Emerson Royal would have no right being the furthest-forward players for Tottenham. But their freedom down the wings gives Tottenham another edge against teams looking to keep Kane quiet.
