Antonio Conte has admitted that Tottenham’s wing-backs need to be ‘more effective’ with their end product after his side’s 1-0 win over Watford.
The Italian, who now holds the record for the longest unbeaten start of any Tottenham manager, had to wait for a winner from Davinson Sanchez deep into second-half stoppage-time to secure all three points.
Spurs dominated proceedings but could not find a way through a stern Watford defence that was keen to sit back and wait for the visitors to try and break them down.
Wing-backs Emerson Royal and Sergio Reguilon received the ball well in the wide areas, but were largely unsuccessful with their crossing attempts into the penalty area, with Spurs firing in 29 throughout the game.
Although a late whipped free-kick from Heung-min Son into Sanchez was enough to secure the points, Conte called for an improvement of the final ball from his wide men but praised the commitment of his players in a tough test of resilience.
Asked whether he was disappointed with the quality of the crosses, Conte said (via Football.London): “For sure, we need to improve in this aspect, because when you play with this system, with this formation, the wing-backs are very important.
“When the ball arrives there, we must be more effective. I know very well that this is a role where you expend a lot of energy.
“You become a striker, a winger when we are in possession, and then a right-back or a left-back when we are without the ball. But at the same time, we have young players with space for improvement.
“Also today I’ve seen great commitment from all the players but for sure we have to improve in many aspects, in the quality but we need the time also to work on this aspect. To play every three or two days is not easy.
“I repeat, I’m delighted with the commitment of the players. Another clean sheet and we’re showing solidity in this aspect.”
Spurs Web Opinion
This result could prove to be vital at the end of the season and it was a dogged performance to grind out a win. But Spurs were pretty wasteful when they had the ball along both wings – particularly on the right – which is something that Conte definitely needs to iron out going forward.
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