Dawson hails Conte for rebooting Spurs
FOrmertottenham star Michael Dawson has been left highly impressed by the job Antonio Conte is doing at his old club. The ex-inter Milan and Chelsea coach took over from the much-maligned Nuno Espirito Santo last month and has so far not tasted defeat in his five Premier League games in charge.
Spurs were well worth a point in their pulsating 2-2 draw with Liverpool last weekend, and will be confident of victory when they host Crystal Palace today.
Conte has become known as a manager who likes to work on improving individual players, and a few already look like they could get back to their best – such as midfield duo Dele Alli and Harry Winks.
Another of those is former Fulham prodigy Ryan Sessegnon, who had almost become a forgotten man in north London after consistently struggling for form and fitness since his £25million move from the Cottagers in 2019.
Recently, however, the leftsided star, 21, has come back into the reckoning, and he has shone in Spurs’ last two Premier
League games.
Dawson said the recent improvement from Spurs defensively has been striking – and he backed Conte to have a similar impact on Sessegnon that he had onvictor Moses at Chelsea.
“I would have loved to have worked under Conte,” Dawson said. “I was a player who gave everything, and he’s demanding – but you can see in the results the effect he can have.
“He’s obviously still trying to put his stamp on the way they play, and he’s had issues like an injury to Cristian Romero, which is a big blow. But I think it’s a work in progress, and that they’ve now got a big chance of top four.
“When you look at the defence, I’ve always been a big fan of Eric Dier. He’s had his critics, but sometimes you just get personnel that suit you.
“I also think Ryan Sessegnon might work out as a left wingback. I’m not sure he’s a leftwinger or a left-back, but if you look at what Conte did with Victor Moses at Chelsea, something similar might happen here.”
There is plenty of talk over who Spurs could look to sign in January, with Conte known to be highly demanding.
But Dawson has played down their chances of bringing many fresh faces in.
“I think they may try to sign another defender,” he added. “Maybe a central midfielder to cover Oliver Skipp or Pierreemile Hojbjerg. But we all know January is a tough window to try to negotiate.”