Conte takes positives from Tottenham’s draw but urges Kane and co. to be ‘more clinical’

Antonio Conte was happy with how Tottenham Hotspur performed against Eintracht Frankfurt but he wants his side to be “more clinical”.

Spurs have had a mixed start in the group stages. Richarlison’s brace earned them a 2-0 in their opener against Marseille.

But they then suffered a disappointing 2-0 loss on the road against Sporting Lisbon before the international break.

Tottenham were dealt a fresh blow over the weekend as they were deservedly beaten 3-1 by their local rivals Arsenal at the Emirates.

Conte would have wanted a response from his side on Tuesday night as they faced Bundesliga outfit Eintracht Frankfurt.

They did perform better than they did against Arsenal, but they were made to settle for a point. The usually clinical Harry Kane and Son Heung-Son did not make the most of their chances in the goalless stalemate. 

This result leaves Tottenham second in Group D. Only three points currently separate pace-setters Sporting Lisbon and bottom-placed Marseille.

Conte said after the draw that his team “created many chances to score”:

“The match was a good match. We played a match with great intensity, we didn’t allow them to play their football or press a lot in every area of the pitch,” Conte told BT Sport.

“At the same time, we have to be more clinical. We created many chances to score. At the end, we are talking about a draw. It is a good draw because it is not easy to play away with the atmosphere. We played a good game but if you don’t score you don’t win.

“The most important thing for me is to create chances. There are moments you are more clinical, there are moments like in the game against Arsenal and today you create chances but make a mistake with the last pass.

“It is important to create chances, the game was good for us and we played with a great personality. We will see in one week, we have another game against them.”

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg added post-match that he is not entirely happy with the draw as they “didn’t use” their opportunities:

“Not 100% happy. I thought we prepared until the box well. We found the spaces well, we tried to get in behind or between them and we did that well but the opportunities we had we didn’t use them to get a clear chance. Disappointing, it is easy to say, but the last bite needed a bit.

“I thought we took the game well, we tried to be dominant. We tried to find the spaces and tried to overcome the first pressure.

“If you cannot win, you don’t lose the game….