"Didn't work very well" - Journalist reacts after Conte's big Spurs selection decision backfired

Transfer insider Dean Jones reckons that Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s absence for Tottenham on Sunday highlighted his importance in Antonio Conte’s system.

The 26-year-old was dropped for the first time in his Spurs career against Wolves, with Conte’s decision backfiring after his side were beaten 2-0.

Following the defeat to Southampton four days earlier, Conte made changes for the visit of Bruno Lage’s side. Spurs had conceded 23 shots on goal, 10 of which were on target, and despite leading the game heading into the final 10 minutes, conceded twice late on and suffered a first home defeat under Conte.

As a result, the Italian shuffled his pack against Wolves, handing a full Premier League debut to Rodrigo Bentancur in place of Hojbjerg, while Matt Doherty and Ryan Sessegnon were the preferred wing-backs.

Hojbjerg’s place on the bench saw his run of starting every top-flight game when available come to an end, with the Liverpool fixture in December the only time he wasn’t in the starting XI in a Spurs shirt, although he wasn’t involved altogether on that occasion.

Despite the changes, it was more of the same for Tottenham, who found themselves 2-0 down inside 18 minutes following goals from Raul Jimenez and Leander Dendoncker.

Hojbjerg stayed on the bench as Conte turned to the likes of Dejan Kulusevski and Steven Bergwijn to try and turn the game around, and despite an improved second-half showing, they weren’t able to get close enough to Wolves.

Harry Winks, who was Spurs’ fifth-worst starter on the day, according to WhoScored, struggled quite notably and was perhaps fortunate to have stayed on the pitch for 90 minutes.

When asked about the Dane being dropped, Jones told GIVEMESPORT: “He took him out of the team, but it