Opinion: Five things we learned from Tottenham’s 3-0 win over Crystal Palace

Tottenham Hotspur gave their fans a late Christmas present this afternoon with a 3-0 Boxing Day win over Crystal Palace in North London. 

Let’s take a look at the five things we learned from the game:

Lucas Moura Conte effect – Lucas Moura has looked like a monster under Conte so far. Now tucked into a number ten pocket on the right, the Brazilian is able to showcase his tight control and powerful driving runs more often than ever. Not only that, but he is being encouraged to shoot more and make runs into the box, as we saw with his goal today. Three assists and two goals in his last four Premier League starts now!

Change in mentality – Under Conte, no matter the formation or the players on the pitch, there seems to be the same consistent mentality. That involves working hard, pressing until the end, holding your shape, always offering an attacking threat, putting your body on the line, and leaving nothing spare in the tank. Sometimes, when managers make changes, the tempo can fall flat. At the minute, every single player, first-team, fringe and academy, are buying into Conte ball.

Tanganga cover – It seems as though Tanganga passed his audition to become the main cover for Ben Davies in that LCB role. Before today, there wasn’t really a standout replacement for the Welshman, with Davinson Sanchez having failed miserably against Mura. Tanganga was not only solid at the back, but also underlapped extremely well and got into some fantastic attacking positions.

Looking good in the table – Spurs are currently fifth in the Premier League table despite having two or three games in hand on every single team above them. Arsenal are six points ahead, having played three more games. If Spurs can put a run together over the next few weeks, especially once their games in hand get rescheduled, they could find themselves in a very nice spot.

Bergwijn number 9 – Conte put his words into action when he replaced Harry Kane with Steven Bergwijn today. The head coach had previously mentioned trying Bergwijn out there rather than Heung-min Son, while Kane is in desperate need of a rest in this festive calendar. With no recognised second striker, Bergwijn could find himself there more and more as the weeks tick by.

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