Conte’s challenge is to find right balance
⮞⮞ard work starts now for a Spurs manager dealing with a key injury, a midfield puzzle and a star striker needing goals
For Tottenham Hotspur, the season starts here. The Antonio Conte era gets under way in earnest against Leeds United tomorrow, and his first Premier League home match as head coach marks the beginning of a fivegame run from which Spurs must start moving up the table.
Resuming the campaign in ninth place, Spurs face Burnley, Brentford, Norwich City and Brighton after entertaining Leeds. Conte needs time to stamp his imprint on his squad but, in the short term, they must do enough to pick up points if they are to avoid being left behind by the top six. After winning the first three games at the start of Nuno Espirito Santo’s reign, Spurs have not yet been able to put any kind of run together, underlined by the fact they lost their next three matches under the Portuguese.
Conte does not like his teams to be “up and down” and is a coach who seeks balance in performances. Tottenham attacked well in the Italian’s first game in charge against Vitesse Arnhem and improved defensively for the solid goalless draw against Everton. “Too offensive is not good, too defensive is not good and the right balance is to make your team stable and ready to have good results,” Conte said. “And to have good results for a long time. Ups and downs are not good if you have a target.”
Having barely had any time to prepare for his first two games before the international break, Conte knows that he has to find the right mix from within his squad before the January transfer window, when Tottenham will be able to make some additions.
There are issues all over the pitch for Conte to solve or at least patch up, and he has not been helped by some key injuries and suspensions.
Defence
Conte could be without central
defender Cristian Romero for at least a month after the Argentine suffered a hamstring injury on international duty. “I spoke with the doctors and now it is right to wait seven to 10 days for another scan to understand the time he needs to recover,” Conte said.
Romero started Conte’s first two games in charge on the right of a three-man defence and has impressed since joining from Atalanta. The 23-year-old’s absence may offer an opportunity to Davinson Sanchez or even Japhet Tanganga, who could replace Romero on the right side if Eric Dier remains in the middle. Sanchez and Dier have not started in the same team since the 3-1 defeat by Arsenal.
Midfield
Oliver Skipp, to whom Conte seems to have taken a shine, is suspended after picking up a fifth yellow card
against Everton. Pierre-emile Hojbjerg needs to be assessed after missing two games for Denmark, and there is a doubt over Giovani Lo Celso. That leaves Harry Winks and Tanguy Ndombele in contention, although Conte agreed that Ndombele’s best position had been a puzzle others had failed to solve.
“I have seen that many managers struggle about this situation, about the position,” Conte said. “Tanguy has quality. He has to understand there is a team and he has to play in the team. Every single player has to know what he has to do. Otherwise, if every player just goes and runs around the pitch, it will be a mess.”
Midfield is an area that Tottenham, who are one of the clubs interested in AC Milan’s Franck Kessie, could look to strengthen in January.
Attack
Harry Kane scored seven goals in
two games with England, having netted only once in the Premier League this season. England manager Gareth Southgate spoke to Kane about the need to stay higher up the pitch and focus on getting into scoring positions, and that is a view Conte is likely to echo.
Conte is sure to work hard on Kane’s fitness. Until then, the England international may have to rely on his instinct and confidence to get over his poor league run.
“We are talking about a worldclass striker and to score is a boost for him,” Conte said. “He wants to train very, very hard and improve. That is fantastic for me because my first task is to improve the players, bring the players to another level, another step.”