Sun 19 December 2021, 20:00
Tottenham HotspurIt was mixed emotions for Antonio Conte after the 2-2 draw against Liverpool on Sunday.
The Head Coach spoke up our effort, commitment and the performance against the in-form team in the Premier League - Liverpool came into this contest with six wins on the spin - but on the downside, we had the chances to put the issue beyond doubt at 1-0 up and then at 1-1 in the second half.
Harry Kane fired us ahead on 13 minutes, quickly followed by Heung-Min Son turning his cross just wide and Dele seeing goalkeeper Alisson Becker somehow touch his effort wide on 29.
Diogo Jota levelled before the break, and then Harry saw two chances go begging, again denied by Alisson, before heading a sharp chance onto the roof of the net. It looked like it might be one of those days when Andy Robertson put Liverpool ahead, but Sonny capitalised on a rare mistake by Alisson to slide into an empty net for the final 2-2 scoreline.
So, up and down, good performance, good commitment, but when you have this type of performance, you have to win.
“It was a good performance, a big effort, good commitment from all my players,” reflected Antonio. “It wasn’t easy, after two weeks, two weeks where we suffered a lot, many players with COVID, my staff with COVID, Under-23 players with COVID, it was difficult to have training sessions, our training ground was closed for three days, so, not easy.
“So, a good performance, a good point against Liverpool, they are, at this moment, one of the best teams in the world, and to play against them is not easy.
“This is one hand. On the other hand, and I’ve said it to the players, we have to be a bit disappointed, because we created many chances to score, and when we have the possibility to kill the game, we have to kill the game and get the three points. So, up and down, good performance, good commitment, but when you have this type of performance, you have to win.
“If you want to improve your mentality, if you want to go to a superior level, I think that, at the end, yes, you have be satisfied with the performance, but you have to go home a bit disappointed because we lost two points tonight.”
Dele, Harry Winks, Tanguy Ndombele and Ryan Sessegnon, all back in the starting line-up, all performed admirably. “My players know very well that I’m here to try to improve the situation, to improve the level of every single player,” added Antonio. “To improve the level of every player means the level of the team will improve. I want to see desire, I want to see the will to improve and to work. If I see this, I give to my players everything.”
