Tottenham Hotspur made hard work of it but they came from behind to defeat Morecambe 3-1 in North London this afternoon.
Let’s take a look at the five things we learned:
Through to round four – First and foremost, Tottenham are in the hat for the next round, with the draw set to take place very shortly. After taking a big hit in the Carabao Cup semi-final last week, it would have been a disaster to get knocked out of the other domestic cup today.
Inverted wing-backs – It was interesting to see Conte invert the wing-backs at half-time. Doherty and Sessegnon were getting plenty of space in the first half but their crossing left a lot to be desired. So Conte put Sessegnon on the right and Doherty on the left, allowing them to cut inside and look for passes/shots. I wonder if we will see this in any Premier League games.
Cavalry was needed again – As always seems to be the case in lesser games where a Tottenham manager has to make changes, the cavalry was needed off the bench to actually get the job done. When Skipp, Kane and Moura came on, it was 1-0 to Morecambe and Spurs were going nowhere fast. Twenty minutes later and the Lilywhites had three goals, two of which were scored by Kane and Moura. Worrying levels of dependency.
Winks redemption – It was another fantastic performance from Winks in midfield today. Not only did he score an incredible free-kick from a tight angle, but he was also the only player looking to create in the first 60 minutes. Although he was sat far deeper than Lo Celso or Ndombele, Winks was more effective in picking out balls through the centre and over the top. Fantastic effort levels, range of passing, and goal.
Tanganga loan needed – The talent is there. I think few would argue against that. But Tanganga is struggling to drop into the defence once every few games while also maintaining his levels. It feels to me as if he is in need of a loan move to play for a Premier League club every single week. That is the next step in his evolution as a player.
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