Conte praises Spurs star for playing ‘with a lot of personality’ in second-half

Antonio Conte has praised Harry Winks for the improvement he showed in the second half against Leeds United.

With Oliver Skipp being suspended for the clash against Leeds, Conte gave Winks the nod to start in the middle of the park alongside Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.

Winks, much like the rest of the Tottenham side, struggled in the first half as Leeds dominated proceedings.

However, the England international was much more influential after the break as Conte’s men pressed Leeds high up the pitch and took the game to Marcelo Bielsa’s side.

Conte reserved special praise for the midfielder for turning his performance around and also admitted his delight with the displays of Japhet Tanganga, Davinson Sanchez and Ryan Sessegnon.

The Tottenham boss told Football.London: “I’m pleased because many players are involved today.

“Tanganga, Sanchez when he came in, Winks – he struggled a lot with the rest of the team in the first half, second half he played with a lot of personality and played well.

“Also Sessegnon to come back into the team after injuries was good for us.”

The Spurs boss celebrated with typical passion at the full-time whistle, embracing each one of his players and his staff. He admitted that he was delighted with the fight that the squad showed.

Conte added: “Good win and it’s right to celebrate with passion. I have great passion and I want to transfer my passion in this environment.

“Because, you can be good tactically and have quality and good organisation, but passion and heart, you have or don’t have.”

Spurs Web Opinion

The contrast between Nuno’s and Conte’s body language on the sidelines is night and day. While Nuno was certainly a nice man, he was too passive on the sidelines.

On the other hand, Conte is not only on the players’ cases throughout the ninety minutes but also gets the crowd going. The Italian brings a different level of energy to proceedings.

Keep up to date with all the latest Tottenham news and opinion by following SpursWeb’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.

Related Topics

Have something to tell us about this article? Let us know