BBC pundit thinks Conte will love ‘no-nonsense’ £15m Spurs player, should build team around him

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Tottenham Hotspur came from behind to beat Leeds United 2-1 – and midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg is now being praise for his performance.

Antonio Conte was in front of the Tottenham faithful for his first home Premier League as Spurs boss.

You expect passion, fight and desire from a Conte team. Tottenham didn’t get that in the first half.

Daniel James put Leeds ahead before half time, leaving Conte to provide a big half-time team talk after a cacophony of boos.

Tottenham looked much more like a Conte team after the break.

Hojbjerg equalised before Sergio Reguilon bagged the winner, giving Conte a huge three points.

Few would have expected Hojbjerg to score and set up the fightback, but that’s exactly what happened.

The £15m Dane struggled in the first half but really stood up after the break.

Conte will be delighted with how Hojbjerg responded, leading his team back to a winning position.

Now, pundit Garth Crooks has offered praise to the midfielder after naming Hojbjerg in his BBC Team of the Week.

Crooks admitted that Tottenham looked ‘out of their depth’ against Leeds, believing Conte has a huge job on his hands.

However, Crooks thinks Conte should build his team around Hojbjerg.

Crooks believes Hojbjerg is ‘serious’ and ‘no-nonsense’, adding that Conte will love him and his characteristics at Tottenham.

“We were not that long into the game when it was becoming glaringly obvious to me that Spurs were out of their depth against a Leeds side who were far more disciplined and tactically aware,” said Crooks. “I don’t for one minute doubt Antonio Conte’s credentials and if you had read the Crooks of Matter recently, you would know why. The issue is Conte has an enormous amount of work to do at Spurs.”

“However, he could do much worse than start building his team around the likes of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg. The Denmark international is a serious, no-nonsense individual who appears to have all the characteristics Conte admires. The Italian manager’s passion for the game and will to win is compelling. It will take some time before Spurs can match that and that’s why he needs time,” he added.