Former Tottenham boss Tim Sherwood insists new signings Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur were to blame for defeat to Southampton this week.
Spurs missed the chance to move up to sixth and just one point off the Champions League places in the Premier League table after two late goals in three minutes secured a 3-2 victory for Ralph Hasenhuttl's men.
"In the end, the best team beat the best players. Southampton were quality. They knew, in possession and out-of-possession," Sherwood said.
"They had a game plan. I thought their game plan was a lot better than Tottenham's. You look at the attempts. 23 attempts to Tottenham's eight? I thought they deserved the game.
"It's not about holding on. Antonio [Conte] needs to get better control of the football match. Then you don't have to hold on. You can't just rely on holding on and gamesmanship just to preserve your three points.
"I think he [Conte] has done a brilliant job since he has been in there. He is still learning about the players. He brings on Kulusevski and Bentancur. And they change the game, as soon as they came on, Tottenham lost."
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