Frustratingly familiar feelings
This match was as frustrating as they come for Tottenham because it featured plenty of positives, fight and attacking endeavour but also fell into the familiar category of the team only improving after a setback. Spurs have now conceded the first goal in the first half in their past six matches.
The problem with only kicking into gear after something negative happens is that sometimes you leave yourself with too big a hole to climb out of and you cannot outscore your opponents, and as against Newcastle so it was again against Liverpool to make it back-to-back home defeats in the Premier League for Antonio Conte's men.
It's not fair to say that it was a poor first half from Tottenham. If anything it was a slow start and then a strong response after Mohamed Salah opened the scoring 11 minutes in, as the home side got their fans going, only for the Egyptian to capitalise on an Eric Dier mistake before a very positive second half from Conte's side.
READ MORE: Spurs player ratings vs Liverpool: Bissouma and Bentancur impress as Dier and Sessegnon struggle
They had plenty of chances to put Liverpool away, hitting the woodwork in both halves, had a strong penalty shout turned down and Alisson was the busier of the two goalkeepers but still could have been tested more.
Spurs will head into the World Cup break in the top four, barring a remarkable goal swing against Leeds and in Manchester United's game at Fulham. They will go into that break with the foundation of that start beneath them but with the knowledge that they have to improve on and off the pitch.
Conte first asked football.london whether Jurgen Klopp was happy with Tottenham's performance following the Liverpool manager's criticism of their tactics at Anfield in the 1-1 draw towards the end of last season. There was a certain irony no doubt for him to the fact that the Reds spent much of the second half on the backfoot and looking to counter.
Conte then explained why he was happy with the performance of a Spurs starting line-up missing Son Heung-min, Cristian Romero and Dejan Kulusevski and Lucas Moura, both of whom joined the action in the second half.
"Before I answer the question, Jurgen was happy with the way that we played tonight? Yeah? It was important to know his opinion. Jurgen is a really good coach but at the end tonight we are talking about a defeat and I'm happy with the game that we played at Anfield. The final result was 1-1 and it was better," said the Spurs boss.
"About the performance, I have to be happy. I have to consider the whole game and you ask me about the first half and it was a positive first half and then for sure if you say 'but your team was 2-0 down', that’s true. But I think also in the first half the attitude was we were prepared to put pressure high and we conceded the second goal for this reason because we put a lot of pressure, a long ball and when you do that the risk for defenders is big.
"I think Eric was unlucky in this situation. Also, in the first half we create chances, we hit the post and we had the chance to score. We played an open game because we wanted to create difficulty to Liverpool, but we were 2-0 down in the end of the first half.
"In the dressing room I can tell you that I didn’t say anything negative to my players. I said we have to continue this way, we are 2-0 down but we have to continue to do what we prepared, with the right intensity, to move the ball more quickly, to move it from one side to the other side to create more problems. I knew that with the wing-backs we could create difficulties to Liverpool."
He added: "Then in the second half we scored, with another crossbar. I think Alisson was the best player for Liverpool.
"There is disappointment for the final result but at the same time we have to take this example for my players, because despite the difficulty to play without many important players, we showed that we can play good football and to get a good result against a team like Liverpool who in the last few years have dominated in the Premier League and Champions League."
Dier's concentration and that next step
The negatives to be found mostly came out wide in the first half and also with another one of those 'switch off' moments from Eric Dier.
Dier's concentration is the only obstacle to him stepping up from being a good Premier League centre-back to a top one. When speaking to football.london about Rodrigo Bentancur ahead of the game, Conte said that it's easy to step up to become a good player, but the gap between moving from a good player to a top one is the most difficult step to make and that's one that Dier is yet to take.
It's no coincidence that Conte, Jose Mourinho and Mauricio Pochettino have all used him heavily - he's played 339 times for Spurs - and they have all lauded the 28-year-old as having the potential to become of the best defenders in the Premier League. Conte believes he can become one of the best in the world.
All three of those coaches know a top defender when they see one but Dier is yet to make that jump to realise their claims. He's got all the building blocks to be a top drawer centre-back and Spurs do miss him when he's out of the team. He's shown longer periods of consistency than before and last season was one of his best at the back but he's yet to make that step to the very top.
That's because there are still moments when you feel a mistake is in the offing from Dier. They do not always lead to goals but it's usually a daft decision - a misjudgement of a pass, a sliced or missed clearance, losing a man or failing to anticipate a dangerous situation.
All players make mistakes but the best iron them out of the game on the whole, particularly the top centre-backs. The key perhaps is to ask whether Dier would be a regular starter for any of the other Premier League big boys right now? His England exclusion in the past year was puzzling but only because of the alternatives being selected, not because he was smashing down the door and had the whole country calling for his involvement.
His involvement in Liverpool's second goal showcased that ability to switch off for a key moment. Conte gave him the benefit of the doubt in saying that it was difficult for him because Spurs had pushed up but this was still a basic header for a top Premier League defender in sending a lofted ball back to the goalkeeper.
Instead Dier took his eyes off the ball, which had been kicked long by Alisson at the other end, and it struck his shoulder instead, bouncing into the path of Mohamed Salah to run through and clip a shot over the advancing Hugo Lloris.
After that Dier showed a lot of what makes his managers laud him. His anticipation was good and he showed that the mistake had not got to him. His ability to ping long passes around the pitch can give him the look of an NFL quarter-back when he gets it right as he did often in the second half on Sunday.
On the right of the back three in Cristian Romero's absence, Dier also showed his ability to get forward and he put in some dangerous crosses and sent one header at goal that Alisson saved.
The problem was that he had blotted his copybook with the mistake and after the game Harry Kane bemoaned Spurs' habit of making a mess in first halves during this campaign.
"Unfortunately the damage was done in the first half. In key moments in big games we've made too many mistakes this season against the bigger teams abe been punished for it. That was the case again today," said the striker.
"I think when we look back over the season we need to reduce those errors, especially when you're playing against the best teams and try to cut it out of our game."
He added: "We weren't good enough being 2-0 down at half-time. It's happened too often this season being behind and having to chase the game in the second half.
"We've done great doing that and we've come back in a lot of games and we've pushed teams to the end but I think if you really want to be fighting at the top of the league you have to fight in those big moments and make sure we come out on top in these type of games and we just haven't done that."
Differing and dithering wing-backs
The starting Spurs wing-backs provided very different displays on Sunday, but with the same end result on the whole.
Emerson Royal, one good left-footed pass to Kane aside in the first half, produced a similar performance to most of his this season. He was reasonable in defence but offered little to nothing in the final third. It said plenty that Dier, a centre-back, was the main attacking threat down the right before Emerson left the pitch.
The 23-year-old Brazilian just doesn't really know what to do when the ball is at his feet and the opposition box is approaching.
He's at his best when he can simply lay it off and the responsibility to a more attacking player like Kulusevski, but that is not enough for a Conte wing-back, who must act like an auxiliary striker and a flying winger as well as defending. On the one occasion Emerson got into a dangerous crossing position, he overhit his cross wildly away from any Spurs attackers.
The improvement when Matt Doherty rekindled his partnership with Kulusevski, which looked so promising last season, was marked.
On the other flank, Ryan Sessegnon promised so much more than Emerson but often tied himself up with his decision-making in the final moment. The 22-year-old's movement was excellent as often was his first touch and he had the beating of Trent Alexander-Arnold down the left on a number of occasions.
On one of them, the England defender had to shove him over unceremoniously in the box with the referee and VAR deciding it was not a penalty and then Sessegnon got in behind again in the second half and teed up Perisic with a first time pass but the Croatian rattled the crossbar with his effort.
On other occasions though, Sessegnon's youth showed with his decisions in the final third, with the wrong pass here or running into a cul-de-sac there and it's that part of his game that he needs to improve as he matures.
Conte really likes Sessegnon and it's because his natural instinct is to attack that space while he has the tactical understanding to defend against the top teams. It's no coincidence that the Italian has selected him in most of his matches against the big sides.
Sessegnon needs to bring more aggression and confidence to his game. There are times when you can see his past hamstring issues cause him to subconsciously hesitate rather than tearing past someone like he did as a teenager.
Then there is Djed Spence, who still awaits his first start. What looked like a potential one at the 22-year-old's former loan club Nottingham Forest this week in the Carabao Cup may have become less likely due to Doherty's recent lack of starts, meaning the 30-year-old may instead get one.
Much depends on whether Conte decides he wants to use the Irishman against Leeds so might hold him back for that and give Spence an opportunity. If he takes it then he will raise all kind of questions about what comes next for him, particularly with that winter break to work heavily with Conte and the coaches.
The Kulusevski effect, the midfield and that front two
There was a buzz when Dejan Kulusevski started warming up down the touchline in the second half at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. When he actually came on to the pitch in the 68th minute you could feel the change in atmosphere in the stands but also among his team-mates.
The 22-year-old Swede brings with him the creativity and drive Spurs have so sorely missed in the 11 matches he was absent for with his hamstring injury. Within just two minutes, he had an assist.
Doherty picked out his movement and Kulusevski in turn fed it through to Kane to hit on the run into the bottom left corner. It was an expert finish for the striker's 11th goal in 14 Premier League matches. For Kulusevski it was his 18th goal involvement in 26 games in his remarkable introduction to the competition (12 assists and six goals).
Conte does not have another Dejan Kulusevski. The Sweden international's absence has been a huge loss. Only Kane can provide a similar playmaker ability but he's needed up front and who will supply those threaded through passes to him? His face must have lit up the moment he saw Kulusevski enter the fray.
Kulusevski's ability to carry the ball and dribble up the pitch also helps Spurs keep the ball when they are under pressure, rather than needlessly smashing it up the field past the midfield when pressed.
"The fans were happy [he was back] but I was first to be happy. Kulusevski, he missed a lot and Moura missed a lot. Richarlison is missing a lot. Now we lost Sonny. When a club like Tottenham loses all these important players it’s not like the other clubs," said Conte.
"I hear someone say every team has injuries, yes but it depends which players you have injured. Tottenham can’t afford to lose all these important players."
Conte will now have to juggle Kulusevski's game time and decide whether to start him against Forest or continue to build up his game time with another substitute appearance before a start against Leeds next weekend.
There were also positives to be had in the centre of midfield for Conte with Yves Bissouma putting in his best display thus far in a Tottenham shirt.
The 26-year-old had not found his rhythm yet for the club other than the odd glimpse of what has made him one of the Premier League's best midfielders in recent seasons but this display was more like those he showed at Brighton.
Against Liverpool he battled for everything in the centre of the pitch and was tidy in what he did with the ball. Conte wanted him to improve the defensive side of his game and on Sunday Bissouma registered two tackles, one interception, one clearance and one blocked shot.
The Mali international showed fast feet throughout and constantly motored away with the ball in cluttered areas.
Either side of him, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg was again busy but without the end product of his previous two matches while Rodrigo Bentancur continues to take his game to new levels.
The 25-year-old Uruguayan made four tackles and one interception and always provided an outlet for Spurs with his energy and runs, either pressing high up the pitch and driving with it at his feet, with four dribbles to his name - far more than anyone else on the pitch.
He was inches away from heading in a late leveller as well after Kane flicked on Perisic's cross.
Perisic was full of crosses - a remarkable 14 of them in all with four finding Spurs players - and he also played five key passes on the night. He struck three shots at goal, one hitting the crossbar after good movement, while he was millimetres away from getting his head to Kane's first half cross which ended up instead hitting Alisson and deflecting on to the post.
The Croatian gave Alexander-Arnold a torrid time from mere seconds after kick-off when he shoved him over as he ran through and he showed that he can play the striker role in a front two to good effect before he switched to wing-back for the final 20 minutes.
Kane continues to increase the level of his performances, with the goals flowing in the Premier League with little sign of them stopping. The striker has only failed to score in four of his 14 league games so far this season. With Bentancur, he also managed to avoid a fifth yellow card of the season which would have seen him miss the Leeds match next weekend.
Kane has moved to 194 Premier League goals, now just 14 behind Wayne Rooney who is second in the all-time list of goalscorers. With 260 goals for Tottenham, Kane is only six goals away from equalling Jimmy Greaves' record total for the north London club.
Kane's disappointment after the game was clear despite his goal. He wants more this season from the team and so do the fans.
Conte's thinly-veiled ultimatum to the Spurs fans
Antonio Conte was clearly irked by the boos of the Tottenham fans at half-time and a couple of his post-match interviews he made something of a veiled threat, linking his future and the supporters' enthusiasm for his team.
The boos at half-time have become a familiar refrain this season among some. Some fans claim they are booing the efforts, some say it's for the officials and others simply the mistakes made, but ultimately it's the same noise.
The supporters pay plenty of money for their match tickets and they are absolutely entitled to voice their disapproval, with Spurs' first half showings often far poorer than their second half ones.
The fans could well say that if the players are not showing the required intensity in the first half for their club then why should they, but it becomes something of a chicken and egg situation. Should the fans cheer on the team or should the team give the fans something to cheer? The answer is probably both.
Those booing supporters might argue that the improved second half displays are a result of their disgruntled noise, but the same upturn after the break is happening away from home where the travelling Tottenham supporters do not boo.
The booing on Sunday was tough on the majority of the Spurs players at half-time because they had played well for a large portion of the 45 minutes and with plenty of effort, but just those two mistakes had them behind on the scoreboard.
The bigger problem is the noises made by fans mid-game which do directly affect the players and their confidence.
For instance, there was a loud sarcastic cheer when Dier did head the ball back to Lloris soon after his mistake for Liverpool's second goal. The fans were frustrated at his previous error but it's tough to see how that helped him in that moment.
Likewise when those players who are not among the fans' favourites, such as Emerson or Davinson Sanchez, make a mistake the groans are quick and loud. It's of course a natural reaction, again born of frustration, and it's difficult to stop while those supporters might suggest Conte should not be putting those players in the firing line in the first place.
It's no coincidence though that when Spurs are soaring, it's when the fans' roars are the wind beneath their wings. It's cheesy but it's true.
The Spurs head coach praised the fans' role in the second half as they got behind the team but also used it to issue what he felt was a reality check.
"I think the fans played an important role [in the second half]. The fans have to understand that in every moment, especially in the difficult moments, they have to play with us," Conte said to SpursPlay.
"They have to understand that. I understand that the fans want to win and they want to win trophies, but at the same time I have to be honest with the fans. We need to go through our process and with our process we need time and patience.
"If we have time and patience and we are all enthusiastic then it will be good also to continue and to do it in the future. If we think that are ready, we are already ready, to win then I think it's not simple.
"I like to be honest and for this reason they have to stay close in every moment to our players, to our team, because the effort is a big effort we are doing, especially in this period. We don't have four important players and to lose four important players is different for Tottenham compared to other teams, the top teams, because you feel this.
"We are trying to manage the situation in the best possible way and sometimes you have to find the right balance. Tonight the performance was really good. The players gave me everything on the pitch and I think our fans appreciated that a lot, the effort that we did."
He added: "I'm working with my staff and my players a lot. This is the only assurance that I can give in this moment to our fans. Then if you ask me to promise other situations then only big, big work to do the best for this club, because this club deserves the best."
The key line in that was "if we have time and patience and we are all enthusiastic then it will be good also to continue and to do it in the future". Conte appeared to be suggesting that if the fans back him and his team then he'll be happy to see this project through but if they don't then he might just head off into the sunset.
In his press conference, Conte went stronger about where Spurs are at right now in his view, but he did sound like a person who is onboard the journey as long as he feels it's heading somewhere.
"First of all I think that we have to show in every moment great respect for our fans because they are our fans, they pay the ticket. At the same time, if you ask me if I was a bit disappointed [by the booing]? Yes," he said.
"Yes because it is important in every moment to be honest. I think I continue to repeat always the same situation from the start of the season and I say we have just started a process. I think after one year we made a lot of improvement.
"If someone thinks that we are already ready to win, I have to be honest with you and tell you it will be really, really, difficult, because when you start and Liverpool is a good example, when you start a process, you need time and patience. If we understand this, time and patience, everybody is okay. Otherwise we can lose the passion and we can lose the enthusiasm."
Again that suggestion that if the fans do not show patience then neither will he.
The former Inter and Chelsea boss continued: "Then I repeat I don't see another way for the way we are doing. For this reason I want to be really honest. I can't promise in this moment to win trophies for our fans because in this moment we are far to do it.
"Then if it happen in domestic league, then it would be a super plus because I repeat I continue to ask for time and patience because I have the experience to tell that we are far from other teams that are used to winning and have squads strong to win. If we understand together this, it would be good.
"Otherwise I repeat everybody wants to win, I am the first that wants to win but we need time and patience. If everybody knows we have time and patience, it is okay. Otherwise I think we continue this season and we will see at the end what happened."
It's not something any football fan wants to hear, that a title charge is unlikely at their club and they need to be patient. It's a realistic statement though and one that Mourinho and Pochettino also stated before the current incumbent, even when the Argentine was competing for the title in successive years as Leicester and Conte's Chelsea beat them to it.
The question could be asked of course as to why Spurs have not got close again in the half a decade since and whether that's down to a lack of backing from the club's owners or poor decisions made both on and off the pitch.
"We finished Champions League first [in the group this week] and for many people that was normal despite last season, in the Conference League we dropped out in the group," said Conte.
"I think that we have to be calm and assess very well the situation of Tottenham and see what the situation was one year ago. Otherwise I repeat we risk losing enthusiasm and passion.
"We have to know that to stay in this position now there is a project, there is a vision, the club knows very well the way to try to improve, but we have to be enthusiastic, everybody, because for me if I don't find the passion and enthusiasm , ok we can work a lot but for me the passion and enthusiasm is my fuel. I need to have this. It’s very, very important for me."
There's little debate that Tottenham have progressed under Conte. They were a mess when he joined, down in the dumps just four months after a farcical summer with their lurching managerial search ending with Nuno Espirito Santo declaring he was going to make the fans proud. He didn't.
Conte however did. He took Spurs into the Champions League within seven months and despite struggling to click this season, particularly missing Kulusevski for those 11 matches, has once again got Tottenham in the top four and the Champions League last 16 after topping their group.
Conte made it clear this week that even if a manager has a history of winning that does not mean he can instantly transfer that to a new club, but he's certainly getting results on the whole despite the mixed performances.
January will be a key time for Tottenham to regroup and decide just how strongly they back Conte in the transfer window. He needs players he can trust for the present.
Although a January move would appear unlikely, eyes will certainly be cast back to Inter and Alessandro Bastoni, their top centre-back target last summer. The 23-year-old Italy international would like to play for Conte again one day but was not keen on leaving his side last summer.
Since then, Bastoni has started just six Serie A games and was an unused substitute in the 2-0 defeat at Juventus, a role he has had in three of the past four league games, although he was a doubt for this weekend's game having suffered from flu in the days before.
The defender has a contract with just another 18 months to run although Inter are constantly being tipped to offer him an improved one. January would seem a difficult time to prise him away but if that new contract does not arrive then another attempt next summer could be in the offing, which might go some way to explaining Clement Lenglet's season-long loan without a purchase option.
Conte needs strong new defensive and attacking recruits this winter in order to push on, with Japhet Tanganga and Bryan Gil likely to be allowed to move on in some form for regular football and bids will be considered for others.
The Italian, who will leave assistant Cristian Stellini to take his Carabao Cup pre-match press conference on Tuesday afternoon, continues to state that the club knows what is required this winter and he will have made it very clear repeatedly to them.
For the fans they will want to see that he is on board for the long-term as well and a new deal would go a long way to proving that. It's all very well declaring that the supporters need to show time and patience, but Conte needs to show them that he's in it for the long haul with them and it's not just words.
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