A number of Tottenham fans will certainly have questioned Antonio Conte's decision nine minutes from time in Sunday's defeat against Newcastle United. Trailing 2-1 following first-half strikes from Callum Wilson and Miguel Almiron, Harry Kane had given Spurs a glimmer of hope, but they struggled to test Nick Pope after he had reduced the deficit in the 54th minute.
Having already introduced Ivan Perisic and Lucas Moura around the hour mark, the head coach's final throw of the dice saw defenders Ben Davies and Matt Doherty enter the fray. Making a double defensive change against Marseille in the Champions League in September that actually helped the team secure a vital 2-0 win, this time, the substitutions didn't have the desired effect.
With Davies and Doherty replacing Clement Lenglet and Davinson Sanchez in the Spurs XI, Bryan Gil sat on the bench, probably wondering what he has to do to get some much-needed pitch time. Taking his rare opportunity earlier in October with an eye-catching five-minute cameo in the European win over Eintracht Frankfurt, Bryan, who was rarely seen warming up down the touchline against Newcastle, has yet to take to the field for Tottenham since.
