Garth Crooks has said on BBC Sport that he was shocked at Tottenham Hotspur head coach Antonio Conte not taking off Ryan Sessegnon despite Arsenal forward Bukayo Saka giving him “a torrid time” at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the North London derby.
Arsenal got the better of Tottenham 2-0 in the Premier League on Sunday.
Saka was involved in the first goal for Mikel Arteta’s side and made life really tough for Sessegnon, especially in the first half.
Former Tottenham forward Crooks has included Arsenal forward Saka in his BBC Premier League Team of the Week.
The BBC Sport pundit has said that he could not believe that Tottenham head coach Conte kept the £25 million left-back/left wing-back (BBC Sport) on for 76 minutes.
Garth Crooks on Antonio Conte decision on Tottenham’s Ryan Sessegnon v Arsenal
Crooks said: “If this fixture had been a boxing contest the referee would have stopped it. Talk about men versus boys. Arsenal absolutely destroyed Spurs in the first half.
“At one stage Bukayo Saka looked like he was capable of taking on the entire Tottenham team.
“The Arsenal winger gave Ryan Sessegnon such a torrid time I couldn’t believe Antonio Conte left the defender on the pitch to receive further punishment.”
Almost unplayable
In our view, Arsenal forward Bukayo Saka was almost unplayable at times against Tottenham Hotspur, and perhaps Antonio Conte should have brought on Ivan Perisic at the start of the second half.
It would not have been prudent to take Sessegnon off in the first half of the North London derby.
It could have damaged the confidence of the 22-year-old.
However, we think that it would have better for Conte to bring on the more experienced Perisic earlier than he did.
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