Antonio Conte's quadruple substitution against Arsenal didn't go down well with Tottenham fans.
Spurs were beaten by rivals Arsenal in the North London Derby to lose their unbeaten league record, dropping four points behind their fierce rivals in the process. The unbeaten run had stretched back to a few games from the end of last season, and included a victory over the Gunners back in May.
After Thomas Partey and Harry Kane exchanged goals in the first half, Gabriel Jesus and Granit Xhaka netted either side of an Emerson Royal red card. Conte responded to going 3-1 down by bringing four players off the bench, with forwards Son Heung-min and Richarlison among those to make way - and it wasn't the most popular decision.
The game looked out of reach for the visitors at that point, but there was still plenty of criticism of the decision. "Yeah we lost the game but why just give up," one fan wrote on Twitter.
"He’s saved us so many times in the past but today feels unforgivable, maybe because it’s arsenal but yeah terrible from him all game," another wrote. "This baffles me when we need a goal," said a third.
"This is the most unbelievable substitution I have ever seen in my life," was the verdict from another supporter. "Someone somewhere please make it make sense." However, others recognised the need to keep players fresh going into a busy month - including Conte himself.
What did you make of Conte's quadruple change? Have your say in the comments section!
Davinson Sanchez, Matt Doherty, Ryan Sessegnon and Yves Bissouma were the four players to come on for Spurs, with Clement Lenglet, Son, Richarlison and Ivan Perisic making way. Conte made a fifth change shortly after, bringing on Oliver Skipp in place of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
"Fresh legs and also because the game ended," Conte said when quizzed by BT Sport about the decision. "I also tried to give minutes to players who previously didn’t play like Skippy and Doherty.
"We had to save energy because this is the first game and after 70 minutes, I wanted to give the players that needed to be available for the following game. For this reason, I wanted to give minutes especially to Skipp and Doherty because we need the whole squad. In front of us we have a lot of games in a short period."
The game at Emirates Stadium was the first of nine for Tottenham in the month of October. That run includes three Champions League group games - two against Eintracht Frankfurt and one against Sporting CP - as well as Premier League matches against Manchester United and high-flying Brighton and Hove Albion.
