Owen Hargreaves urges Tottenham to be more attacking after another slow start
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‘They should do it from the start’: Owen Hargreaves urges Tottenham to be more attacking after another slow start against Sporting Lisbon… but says it’s just boss Antonio Conte’s ‘philosophy’ who ‘will not change’
- Tottenham started slowly against Sporting on Wednesday in a 1-1 draw
- BT Sport experts criticized the team for not starting with the required intensity
- Owen Hargreaves and Glenn Hoddle agreed this is the manager’s way
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Owen Hargreaves begged Tottenham to start games faster after they left Sporting Lisbon 1-0 at halftime in another languid opening period.
Tottenham recovered well in the second half and, after an equalizer from Rodrigo Bentancur, it was relentless pushing for a winner. But for a controversial VAR decision on death, Harry Kane would have won for Antonio Conte’s side.
Speaking after the dramatic 1-1 draw that left Group D well-balanced en route to the final round next week, Hargreaves said Tottenham should do what they did after the break and apply it throughout the 90 minutes.
Owen Hargreaves said Spurs should start games sooner after a poor start to their game against Sporting Lisbon
Tottenham struggled to match the intensity of their opponents for most of the first period
But he also defended Conte’s record amid calls for a more intense and forward-thinking style of play.
‘Look, that’s just how they play. That’s his philosophy,’ Hargreaves said.
“He’s had tremendous success, when he took over this side they were ninth, they were nowhere.
“He brought them to the Champions League. They are exceptional in the counter-attack, but the intention in the first half they are quite passive. Marseille came here and was fantastic, Frankfurt too. Sporting was clearly good.
They recovered well and grabbed the equalizer before seeing what they believed was a winner written off late in the game
“They looked better in the second half, but they go in and they kind of have to chase after it.”
The Spurs have fallen behind in three of their five group matches in the Champions League so far this season.
“But I think they have to do it from the start (attack), they have the players for it,” Hargreaves added. “This stadium was dead quiet in the first half, in the second half they got energy from the players who performed well.
Glenn Hoddle, who serves as an pundit alongside Hargreaves, agreed with the assessment of the two-time Champions League winner and said Tottenham needed to improve.
Both Owen Hargreaves and Glenn Hoddle admitted Antonio Conte wouldn’t change his style
“They have to go down 1-0 every now and then before they start playing, they play with a little handbrake on. It happened against Frankfurt, they are behind 1-0 and then they put in a great performance,” he said. “Marseille drops to 10 men, then they start playing and they get the two goals.
“It’s the same today. Until half time we were scratching our heads about what Tottenham are doing. But it was about forcing yourself in front of the intent and putting pressure on the ball, which they didn’t do in the first half, and in the end Sporting stuck.
“That pattern has happened too often for Tottenham. Sometimes they get the game back, they almost did it tonight.’
Tottenham’s hopes to advance from the group stage now only boil down to next week. As frontrunners, they have their fate in their own hands, but travel to Marseille which got them into trouble at the beginning of September.
Hargreaves (R) said Tottenham had the players and the ability to be more dominant in games