Antonio Conte is well aware of one of the issues his Tottenham Hotspur side is struggling from in defending set-pieces, according to Charlie Eccleshare.
Spurs conceded another goal – the deciding goal – on Saturday night in their away trip to Old Trafford which saw them lose out on the points late on from a corner kick.
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And it was apparent the Italian manager was frustrated by the manner Spurs lost the game as Cristiano Ronaldo beat his man and headed home emphatically with just minutes remaining:
“From tomorrow, we analyse the situation and try to improve the set pieces because, I repeat, we are conceding a lot of goals from set-pieces,” Conte said.
Spurs have now conceded nine goals in the Premier League this season from set-pieces which is 25.7% of the total goals the Lilywhites have let in to date.
“On other occasions under Conte, you could argue Spurs have been unlucky, like with Davies’ own goal that made it 2-0 to Chelsea in the first leg of that Carabao Cup semi-final — even that, though, was possibly also down to a lack of organisation and decisiveness,” Eccleshare wrote for The Athletic.
“Either way, Conte is aware that this is one of the issues he and his team need to resolve.”
TIF Thoughts on Eccleshare’s assessment…
We do not think there is any shame in being beaten in the air by Ronaldo given the record he has built over the years from scoring headers.
However, it was not a case of the Portuguese forward leaping higher than any Spurs player on Saturday evening at Old Trafford as the 37-year-old found himself free inside the box.
It was a brilliantly placed header, but the marking from Spurs left an awful lot to be desired. With one in four of the goals conceded by Spurs a set-piece, it is a clear area that needs addressing going into the final 11 games.
In other news: ‘Saw him doing this’ – Alasdair Gold drops ‘interesting’ touchline Conte claim at Spurs