Antonio Conte has insisted that both Rodrigo Bentancur and Harry Winks played well against Wolves despite Tottenham falling to a 2-0 loss.
Bentancur came into the side for Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg for his first Tottenham start on Sunday.
The midfielder did not have the easiest of outings as Wolves raced into a 2-0 by the 18th minute and defended resolutely with men behind the ball for the majority of the encounter.
Some Spurs fans might have felt that the Lilywhites missed Oliver Skipp and Hojbjerg’s tenacity in the middle of the park.
The stats certainly seem to point that out, with Tottenham not having conceded a single goal under Conte in the five matches that Skipp, Hojbjerg and Eric Dier have started together (BBC MOTD).
However, Conte insisted that he was pleased with the performance of his two central midfield players.
The Tottenham head coach told Football.London: “I think [Rodrigo] played very well. I think the two midfielders played very well today.
“Bentancur is a player who learned to manage the pressure with Juventus because with Juventus you have a lot of pressure.
“You have seen tonight the way that they played the game but Winks also played a good game. It’s difficult to comment after a defeat and it’s difficult to concede two goals after 15 minutes.
“We have an opportunity to work and I hope the fans understand well our situation in this moment, to be realistic and try to push us until the end.
Conte insisted that the performance from his side against Wolves was not as bad as the scoreline suggests, claiming that Spurs fashioned plenty of opportunities to score.
He added: “It was a difficult day because we conceded two goals after only maybe 15 minutes.
“The performance was good, maybe one of the best since I was here, but at the end, we’re talking about a bad result, 2-0 down. We created many chances to score. It’s very difficult to comment on this game.
“We played against a team that is very good defensively. They’ve only conceded 17 goals, the second-best in the Premier League after Manchester City. I think we created many chances to score, despite the solidity of this team.
“We have to try to improve in many aspects, also, to live with the pressure… the pressure of when you play in this stadium, you feel a bit of pressure, but that pressure has to be positive for us.
“These guys are working very well, their commitment is very high, but we have to know we have to improve in many aspects.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Conte has made it a point to praise the team’s commitment after both of our defeats against Southampton and Wolves. So, that suggests that he is happy with the effort the players are putting in and sees the team’s shortcomings as being down to a lack of quality rather than having anything to with attitude.
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