Antonio Conte has said to Tottenham Hotspur’s official website that he had to send a warning to his players in the dressing room at half-time.
Sounding the alarm
Tottenham went into the break 1-0 up against Norwich yesterday thanks to a wonderful strike from Lucas Moura.
However, their performance in the opening 45 minutes hadn’t been particularly eye catching.
Norwich actually held the ball for large periods and while Spurs weren’t necessarily put under huge amounts of pressure, Conte wanted to see an improvement in the second-half.
“After the first half I spoke with the players and said, as you said before the game, this game is not easy. We are seeing that this game is not easy,” he said.
“We must be prepared and we have to know the way without the ball to be stronger and put pressure on in the right way and the good zone that we should press.”
Taking the advice on
Thankfully for Tottenham, Conte’s words were certainly heeded by his players.
Spurs improved significantly after the break and went on to win 3-0.
And Conte added: “We did this very well and then we scored two more goals and can improve the final result.
“But I want to tell you that Norwich played a good game and they had a good manager.”
Strong start
Tottenham’s win continues their excellent run of form under Conte.
They are still unbeaten in domestic games under the Italian boss and have only conceded once in that time.
Conte’s 5-2-3 structure seems to be getting the best out of Tottenham, particularly in a defensive sense right now.
Spurs are really starting to put pressure on the top four now too.
The Lilywhites are just two points away from the Champions League qualification spaces and they have a game in hand over West Ham United.
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