Ex-Spurs star admits he was surprised by Conte’s decision against Brentford

Paul Robinson has admitted he was surprised by Antonio Conte’s unwillingness to bring on Steven Bergwijn against Brentford.

Following Tottenham’s shock defeat at home against Brighton the previous weekend, Conte would have been hoping for a response from his players at the Brentford Community Stadium.

However, he certainly did not get that as the away side started the game sluggishly and struggled to create any clear cut chances in the first half.

Despite the Lilywhites’ struggles in the final third continuing after the interval, Conte was hesitant to change things up and only brought on Lucas Moura in the 86th minute.

The Italian decided not to bring on Bergwijn despite Harry Kane, Son Heung-min and Dejan Kulusevski struggling to impact the game.

The 0-0 draw meant that Arsenal went two points ahead of Spurs in the race for fourth, and Robinson admitted that Conte’s unwillingness to change things up left him puzzled.

The former Tottenham number one told Football Insider: “I was at the game and it did not seem to click.

“It was one of those days. There was no real excuse for it. It was just a lacklustre performance that lacked a spark. There was no cohesion.

“The front three were all looking for a way into the game. I thought the likes of Bergwijn could have made an impact from the bench so I was surprised that he didn’t come on.

“There was not a lot on the bench though. Lucas Moura and Bergwijn were the two. The options were there.”

Spurs Web Opinion

A section of the Spurs fan base seem to think that Conte is above any criticism, which I do not understand. I think he is the right man to help us close the gap with the best sides in the Premier League but some of his decisions deserve to be questioned.

Conte has always been tactically inflexible throughout his career and his unwillingness to ever try and press opposition teams high up the pitch is quite annoying. It essentially means that we never have sustained spells of pressure and we are thus frustrating to watch if we do not get an early goal.

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