Conte's return
Antonio Conte was back with the Tottenham team on Saturday as they travelled to the King Power Stadium to take on Leicester City. Just over a week ago it was confirmed by the club that the 53-year-old had to undergo surgery to remove his gallbladder, with the Italian absent for last weekend's brilliant 1-0 win over Man City.
Having watched on from his homeland last Sunday as the hosts came out on top, Conte returned to Hotspur Way on Thursday and was spotted on the training pitch with the team. Amid question marks over his role at the King Power Stadium for the Leicester game, the Spurs head coach was back on the touchline rather than taking a watching view from the stands.
Conte certainly wasn't a hive of activity as he usually is on the touchline, though, with Cristian Stellini the one moving about and barking out the orders to the players. Conte, who was even spotted sitting on a drinks cooler for a couple of minutes in the first half, would not have been impressed by what he saw from his team after they fell to a heavy defeat days after such a good win over the reigning champions.
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Romero replacement
Conte always had a decision to make in terms of his defence for the Leicester City game following Cristian Romero's dismissal late on in the win over Man City. Given his marching orders for two bookable offences, the World Cup winner had to sit out the match at Leicester due to his one-match suspension.
Opening up a gap on the right of the back three, it did appear that Davinson Sanchez would get the nod in the position having taken Romero's place in the team when the Argentine has been absent this term. However, Japhet Tanganga was the man who was chosen there in the end.
The academy graduate performed well in the position in the recent win over Preston North End in the FA Cup, with Conte clearly believing he was the better option to play there as he can also push forward and attack, whereas Sanchez doesn't exactly have that in his locker.
Tanganga did show the attacking side of his game in the first half after nipping in to win the ball before playing a good ball in that Rodrigo Bentancur was inches away from getting control of. Attacking opportunities were limited after that, though, as it was Leicester pushing on to add to the scoreline.
Thankfully for Conte and Spurs, Romero will be available for selection once again at AC Milan and then next Sunday when West Ham visit N17.
The defending
Leading 1-0 thanks to Bentancur's early opener from close range, Tottenham completely capitulated in what remained of the first half. Although there was nothing Fraser Forster could have done about Nampalys Mendy's rocket from the edge of the box, some may feel that Ivan Perisic should have got out to the midfielder quicker to give him limited space to get his shot off rather than standing his ground.
Just over a minute later and the Foxes were ahead through James Maddison as he calmly found the corner after Kelechi Iheanacho had passed to him on the edge of the box. What made it even worse from a Tottenham perspective is that it all came straight from Wout Faes' slide tackle in the Leicester half and it was all too easy after that for Leicester's attack with Eric Dier out of position.
Needing to ensure that they didn't concede again to stop the game going away from them, Brendan Rodgers' team added a third in first-half stoppage time as Iheanacho found the bottom corner from the edge of the box following another long clearance upfield. While it was a good finish from the striker, Dier stood off him and allowed the former Man City ace to keep edging towards the area before he given all the time he wanted to get a shot off.
Defending so well against Man City in their last game, it was the complete opposite this time around with Leicester's second and third goals absolute shockers to concede. Another alarming aspect for Tottenham was Harvey Barnes gliding between Pedro Porro and Tanganga just before the hour mark, with Forster coming to the rescue to deny him.
Bentancur scare
Already short on midfielders for Tuesday's Champions League game away at AC Milan with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg suspended and Yves Bissouma injured, Tottenham were handed another major scare midway through the second half. Bentancur went to ground following a clash of knees with Mendy and looked to be in serious pain as it appeared that his foot got caught in the turf.
Comforted by a number of the Tottenham team, with Dier holding his head at one point, Bentancur did manage to get back to his feet and walked around the pitch back to the dugout. Replaced by Pape Matar Sarr as he was unable to continue, the Uruguayan's exit does give Tottenham a real headache going into their European tie at the San Siro.
If Bentancur does indeed face a spell on the sidelines, Spurs will have no choice but to line up with Sarr and Oliver Skipp as a midfield duo unless Conte has another idea up his sleeve. Having a fully-fit squad to choose from one week ago against Man City, an awful lot has changed in the space of six days.
Porro struggles
Despite Emerson Royal's standout display against Man City last weekend, the Brazilian dropped down to the substitutes' bench as Porro came in for his full Tottenham debut. Wowing against the Lilywhites in the Champions League for Sporting CP during the first part of the campaign, the Spaniard had a tough time of it on his Tottenham bow.
The new signing was embarrassed in the opening minutes of the contest as a Barnes dummy completely bamboozled him and allowed the winger to push forward. Leicester again got the better of him later in the half when he failed to cut out a pass when going to ground to win the ball, which Victor Kristiansen benefitted from.
In terms of an attacking sense, Porro just didn't have an impact going forward as the opportunities were not there for him, with one positive run not picked out by Perisic despite the right wing-back finding himself in space after making a late run into the box. Always going to need time to adapt to the pace and intensity of the Premier League, the new signing didn't have the best of days at the King Power Stadium but there is very much more to come from him over the coming weeks and months.
Tuesday's game at AC Milan may suit him down to the ground, though, but that will all come down to whether or not Conte selects him from the off after his debut struggles.
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