Ally Gold's said the players have been blown away already by Conte's sessions. Bit of a contrast to some of the rumours about how they weren't enjoying Nuno's. He also says Skipp has already caught the eye of Conte... Yeah he does that, Antonio. Reguilon's also spoken out about the gaffer. Said he spoke to Hakimi and Hakimi basically had nothing bad to say and that he'll help improve the players. Reguilon also said (this despite dropping a stinker yesterday) that he feels he's improved a bit already under him and he's been told that whilst Conte wants a solid defence he wants for Reguilon to also arrive more in the final third and grab goals and assists, he should've done better yesterday when Kane crossed it to him and he got in one or two crossing positions too so you can see that is indeed what Conte's trying, Emerson too could've done better with his header. A few of us have said before that these two are likely going to become huge under Conte and I'd say Emerson especially has already looked very good. Excited to see how they develop.
I think Skipp could easily become our best player and be Club Captain. In the first trial match at the new stadium he was head and shoulders above anyone else on the pitch. I also like playing with wingbacks. But whether we will have enough creativity in the side is an issue. Lucas Moura and Hojbjerg are the players who are the weakest in the front 5. The alternatives we currently have are Dele, Gil, Winks, Lo Celso and Ndombele. Not sure that anyone we are linked with is actually much of an improvement.
One thing we definitely needed yesterday was somebody playing killer passes from the middle of the park to bring in the front three, and that was sorely lacking as instead the midfield two passed either to the FBs or back to the CBs And it has to be said that's been a problem for a couple of years now, certainly since Poch introduced A Certain Rhomboid Formation, where we need some forward passing through the middle yet rarely see any
It's definitely possible, his ceiling is very high and he also has the perfect attitude, Jose also said he could see him as a future captain and it's hard to disagree. The wingback formation is definitely our current best bet. It's Conte's tried and tested style, he's had success at three different clubs with it and hopefully he can bring a form of success here and make us the fourth. It also makes sense to play like this as we don't have midfielders who can control a game nor do we have a right winger of genuine quality, as Lucas is at best a squad player but due to our predicament he's currently been a starter. We can't get much worse than Dele, Winks, Lo Celso and Ndombele. All of these would struggle to make the XI of a side in the bottom half of the table and it's calibres like that that have seen Spurs decline over the last three years. So there has to be the belief that whoever Conte targets in January will almost certainly be an improvement, whilst unproven in the Premier League, players like Kessie and Brozovic who've been linked certainly look like improvements on what we have.
Lol, I said that as Conte’s won the league with his last three clubs and I don’t think we have much of a chance of that even with him in charge, we probably need about £300m+ investment over the next 2-3 windows to give us that sort of possibility and I just can’t see that happening. So for me, Conte being successful here would represent a trophy or two and qualification for the CL.
If we could sign three world class players for CM, AM and CB and get Son and Kane back to their best I think we would have a chance of matching Man City, Liverpool and Chelsea. But even if we had £300m, where our equivalents of de Bruyne, Kante and van Dijk are going to come from I've got no idea
A shame Emerson is on Brazil duty as I think a couple weeks of him and Reguilon working on their new roles will have been great, although that said, Emerson seemingly needs less work than Reguilon so it’s not terrible. Not sure if Sess is actually fit to train, hopefully he is or will be soon. Gil was seen in the latest training video so he’s back from injury and will have the two weeks to work with Conte. More time with Tanganga will also hopefully give the gaffer something to think about as one of his three CBs.
From a first XI perspective I agree, we’d have a very good first team to compete with just about anyone with those additions but I think our depth still needs improving, we’ve seen how poor our squad players are against European minnows and most of them aren’t capable of impacting games when being brought on. So whilst a top class CB and a creative mid or two is ideal, there’s still a fair bit more needed for us to be truly competing with the big boys. I think we need 2 or 3 first XI additions and probably another 2 or 3 players to come in and compete, one certainly being a striker. As for the who’s, that’s Conte, Paratici and Hitchen’s jobs to identify and seek out. I have a lot of faith/ hope in the Conte-Paratici pairing though. I already like most of Paratici’s signings from this summer and so hopefully he builds on that.
I could see a switch up to 352 in the coming weeks, swapping Lucas out for a player at 10. It’s harsh on him because he works so hard but I think we need a creative influence. We get the ball into the final 3rd a lot but struggle to make chances from there. With Son, Kane and wingbacks we still have plenty of pace and counter attacking ability but it’s when we’re in possession that I think we need a player more capable of creative play than Skipp and Højbjerg. It will ask more of the WBs though because they won’t have wingers in front of them, so I can see why he hasn’t gone straight to it.
Nile John and Dane Scarlett have been called up to the England U19s. I think Alfie Devine's injured, but Harvey White and Dilan Markanday should be involved.
Has to be Lucas out for Ndombele. Ndombele needs to sort his fitness out asap though. Hopefully Conte can work on that and make a big difference quickly as he’s the only one I can see who is capable of playing that role. Dele and Lo Celso could also be considered for the role but imo they’re not good enough for it.
Yeah I think 352 is currently our best bet. Skipp and Hojbjerg are very good at what they do but it's what they don't do that we really need and getting someone in there alongside them should in theory work better than the current setup, Lucas is also quite easily expendable, strong worker but lacks quality and end product, he's a good squad option but a below-par starter. Ndombele has two weeks to convince Conte he's that player to replace Lucas too, whether he does or not though is anyone's guess, it's hard to be optimistic with the bloke.
If there are those £100m values players out there though, I'd rather have one of those who will make a real difference rather than 3 £30m ones who most likely won't be better than Lo Celso or Ndombele (or Fred and van de Beek) all of whom cost much more than £30m.
We probably won’t spend £100m on a player, nor do we essentially need too with the right scouting. A £30m player that fits Conte’s system perfectly would feel like a £100m player. Van de Beek’s a very good player too, just bizarrely not being selected by the hobbit due to his fetish for the McFred midfield that does absolutely nothing.
So Tanganga, Moura and Gil. Rest of them might as well go around putting up Xmas lights for the council.
Ally Gold’s just said Sess will resume outdoor training this week, ideal timing I’d say. Here’s hoping he can steer clear of injuries now, I still think there’s a player in there and Conte’s the perfect manager for him but we can’t keep persisting with someone that’s rarely available. Fingers crossed for him.
