Tottenham legend Clive Allen has questioned Antonio Conte’s defensive philosophy after his side were outclassed, outgunned and ruthlessly exposed by Arsenal in the north London derby.

Spurs were swarmed by their arch rivals as the Gunners ran out 3-1 winners in a pulsating showdown at the Emirates Stadium.

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It was a very poor display from Tottenham, who were set up to hit Arsenal on the counter-attack, but just sat too deep, were too passive and were duly punished by the hosts who look a real force in the Premier League under Mikel Arteta this season.

A Thomas Partey wondergoal got things started, with Gabriel Jesus and Granit Xhaka scoring after the break to make Harry Kane’s earlier penalty a mere consolation, despite breaking a Thierry Henry record.

It was a statement win from the Gunners who remain top of the table, while for Tottenham – who finished the game with ten men due to Emerson Royal’s red card – it was a performance that just confirmed every misgiving supporters have had over their style of play.

Spurs went into the derby unbeaten in the league, but it is fair to say results have flattered them in recent weeks as they have not been playing very well, having faced criticism over their ‘boring’ brand of football.

Conte’s pragmatic style has delivered him titles before, but Allen told talkSPORT it was ‘survival football’ from Spurs at times on Saturday afternoon.

And the former striker was stunned how the Italian didn’t change his game plan despite it being clear it wasn’t working, with Spurs ‘on the ropes’ throughout.

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“This is a game where you had to throw down a marker, a win would have put Tottenham top of the Premier League, but it was Arsenal who threw down the gauntlet,” said Allen, speaking live from the Emirates for talkSPORT.

“There was so much at stake in this game, and you have to give Arsenal credit for what they’ve done,  but I’ve got to say it was a very disappointing performance from Spurs.

“Their unbeaten record is gone now, and it will be really interesting to see the way they respond. Will Antonio Conte change his philosophy?

“The style Spurs have adopted, to sit back and break on the counter-attack, they have won games using that system.

“But I’m not sure there’s a Plan B from Conte in terms of how they can change the course of games.

“It has been working this season, but it certainly hasn’t worked today, it’s been their undoing.

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“Antonio Conte believes in this defensive system, with the quality of the forward players he has and playing on the counter-attack.

“We saw glimpses of that, just glimpses, where Heung-min Son, Harry Kane and Richarlison combined and they ended up winning a penalty to get themselves a goal.

“But other than that it was lacklustre, it was tame in the way they went about dealing with a north London derby that was always going to be ferocious.

“They retreated so deep they just invited Arsenal onto them and Arsenal were worthy winners.

“It has been OK to this point in terms of results using this system, but there have been games where Spurs have given up chances where better teams will punish them – as Arsenal have shown today.

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“Can Spurs change up their game plan? That is the million dollar question and, for me, they certainly haven’t shown that they can.

“Will Conte change it? I’m not sure that he will. I don’t think Conte will change. This is the way he believes Spurs are going to go about winning games. 

“They’ve got a big, big game now in the Champions League against Frankfurt this week, because that group is now in the balance, there are questions whether Spurs will be able to qualify for the knock-out stages.

“More importantly, it’s how they respond in the Premier League now to get back to winning ways.”