Eric Dier has claimed that Tottenham’s ability to grind out a win against Burnley on Sunday shows how far the team has progressed under Antonio Conte.
Tottenham needed all three points against the Clarets to make their win in the North London Derby count and to pile pressure on Arsenal before their trip to St James’ Park.
As expected, Burnley defended with all ten outfield players behind the ball and made it difficult for the home side to fashion too many chances.
Spurs spurned the opportunities that did come their way in the first half but were handed a lifeline just before the interval, with Kevin Friend pointing to the spot after Ashley Barnes was adjudged to have handled the ball inside the box.
Harry Kane converted the penalty past his England teammate Nick Pope with ease and, despite having some nervy moments after the interval, the Lilywhites managed to hang on to all three points.
Dier admitted that Tottenham might have been able to see out a win previously.
When asked about Antonio Conte’s comments that Spurs would not have won this match three months ago, the centre-back told BT Sport: “Yeah, I think he’s right.
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“Coming off the Arsenal game in the past, if you look at the last Burnley game we had beaten Man City away a couple of days before and then we lose away to Burnley so I think it is a step in the right direction and I think today is another one, and that is down to the manager.
“His influence over us and us obviously feeding off that, trying to do what he wants from us. Yeah, it is a step in the right direction and I think we have been improving constantly under him and the results have come from that. I think there is still much space for us to improve with him.”
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There is no doubt that the players have improved both tactically and mentally under Conte.
However, the game against Burnley showed that we still have problems breaking down deep-lying defences – something that has been an issue since Conte arrived.
One way to solve that could be by signing wing-backs who are capable of beating players in one vs one situations.
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