Antonio Conte admitted to Sky Sports that Kalvin Phillips playing in defence for Leeds United caught him off guard.
Change of positions
Phillips ended up playing at centre-back for Leeds against Tottenham Hotspur, with Pascal Struijk starting on the left-hand side of defence.
It was a shock selection call from Marcelo Bielsa, but one which looked like a great decision initially.
Leeds went into the break 1-0 up against Spurs, with Phillips combating the threat of Harry Kane well.
However, in the second-half Spurs pressed with more intensity and ultimately came from behind to claim the three points.
“In the second half I corrected the situation,” Conte said after the match.
“I have seen that Phillips dropped into their defensive line. It created a lot of problems in the first half, in the second half we had a change of plan and then we put pressure on.”
The game rather summed up the story of Leeds’ season so far.
There was plenty of promise in their display, but they did not claim any reward for their efforts, as they slipped to another defeat.
Conte was at least complimentary towards the Yorkshire at full-time though.
More compliments
He added: “In the first half, we struggle. We struggled a lot. Physical and tactically. They put a lot of pressure on every time we had the ball.
“In the second half we changed something tactically and we wanted to go and play at the same intensity of Leeds, or maybe higher.
“Leeds in the first half they lead, they lead the game. In the second half I think we deserved to win.
“I read the stats and Leeds were the first for running and the intensity.”
For all of Bielsa’s side’s efforts, they are currently lacking that little bit of quality to get them over the line.
Leeds were without the likes of Patrick Bamford, Rodrigo and Raphinha yesterday – and had very few options on the bench to change things.
Bielsa’s men have just been unable to get over the line on numerous occasions this term, and they now hover just above the drop zone.
The Whites are only two points clear of 18th placed Burnley, after collecting 11 points from 12 games to date.
The hope is that Leeds’ injury problems will clear, and that will fire them up the table.
But there is real concern that if Leeds don’t get their players back soon then things could get worse before they get better.
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