Tottenham missed a number of good chances against Frankfurt
(Picture: Getty Images)A 0-0 draw at Eintracht Frankfurt may prove a decent point for Tottenham, who can still top a wide open Champions League group, but another patchy performance did not quite banish the memory of their derby defeat, nor end questions about Antonio Conte’s selections and tactics.
Spurs have now played their two toughest away games, including the defeat to Sporting Lisbon last time out, but they are under pressure to beat the Portuguese side and Frankfurt at home, while a trip to Marseille will prove no gimme after their 4-1 win over Sporting earlier on Tuesday.
After a prickly pre-match appearance, in which he fiercely defended his selection decisions and tactics, Conte might take encouragement from a more positive performance, which saw his side have plenty of the ball but consistently fluff their final pass.
But this display was not exactly a vindication for the Spurs head coach -- who again resisted rotated and named an unchanged XI from Saturday’s defeat to Arsenal -- and raised more questions about his 3-4-3 system.
The visitors were the more positive side at a rocking Deutsche Bank Park and create a string of chances and half-chances, often with slick moves in the final third.
In common with the 3-1 reverse at the Emirates, however, their final ball was too often missing, and this was another game when they sorely missed Dejan Kulusevski, who was sidelined again with a hamstring problem.
A front three of Harry Kane, Heung-min Son and Richarlison were all clunky in possession and missing a clinical edge when chances did come their way.
Son was the liveliest of the three but his touch and finishing were way off, suggesting a stunning hat-trick in the 6-2 win over Leicester has not kickstarted his difficult campaign, as hoped.
Richarlison was equally careless on the ball, although did set up the South Korean either side of half-time. For the first Son’s cross was too far ahead of Kane and he fired the second opening wide.
Kane and Son saw near-post efforts blocked, while Ivan Perisic dribbled a deflected effort wide.
Conte had suggested pre-match that he could switch to a 3-5-2 system, with Yves Bissouma coming into the midfield at the expense of one the forwards, and perhaps this would have made more sense in Kulusevski’s absence.
The Italian admitted that it is easier to play his preferred 3-4-3 system when the Swede is available and it surely worth trying a different approach if he is still not fit for Saturday’s visit to Brighton.
Without their link-man between midfield and attack, and the player most capable of picking out a killer pass, Spurs simply do not function as smoothly, and their biggest weapons are too often rendered blunt.
