Pundit claims Conte should have started four Spurs stars vs Bournemouth

Clinton Morrison has praised Tottenham for the character they showed to come back from two goals down to beat Bournemouth but he questioned why Antonio Conte rested so many of his key players. 

Ahead of the clash at the Vitality Stadium, Conte had remarked that the Champions League match against Marseille was more important since Spurs’ European ambitions this season depend entirely on the former (Football.London).

Rodrigo Bentancur
(Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)

So, it did not come as much of a surprise to see the Spurs boss rotate his squad for the clash in the South Coast, with a makeshift back three of Davinson Sanchez, Clement Lenglet and Ben Davies being given the nod to start. 

However, Conte was more proactive than usual in his substitutions and the changes had the desired effect as his side pulled off a stunning turnaround to come from two goals down to win 3-2.

Morrison hailed the impact that the likes of Rodrigo Bentancur, Lucas Moura and Eric Dier had on the game but questioned why some of them did not start on Saturday, as well as Ivan Perisic.

The former Crystal Palace striker told Soccer Saturday on Sky Sports (29/10/22 at 5:25 pm): “You are thinking ‘can Tottenham respond? Credit to him. He makes changes. Brings on Lucas Moura, Perisic, Bentancur and Eric Dier.

“All these players should be starting anyway. Worry about this game, then worry about the Marseille game after. This is the important game, but he brought them on and they made a big difference, especially Lucas Moura and Bentancur made a very, very big difference.

“They were the only team that was going to win it. He deserved it Bentancur because I felt he was the player that put his foot on the ball and tried to get the incisive pass.”

Spurs Web Opinion

The game on Tuesday against Marseille is arguably our biggest match of the season until this point. So, it did not come as surprise to me that Conte chose not to risk some key players against Bournemouth. 

The Italian’s decision to start Emerson and Sanchez almost cost us, but thankfully, we managed to come through unscathed, with the likes of Dier, Romero, Bentancur, Lucas and Doherty a little fresher for the Marseille clash.

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