Match Day Thread Tottenham Hotspur v Vitesse

From chaos comes order.

 

I wonder if there's much to read into Conte's first selection and potentially what may happen in January, both incomings and outgoings?

I'd say that was probably what he considered our best XI last night on first impression and I think the majority of the selection would've been picked by many of us too. Some of the usual suspects failed to get on again, as they've struggled to do so under previous managers.

Rodon and Tanganga can probably feel quite aggrieved, a three CB formation and they still couldn't get any minutes, worse that Dier continues to get selected above them and yet again put in another poor display, whilst Romero wouldn't have impressed his new gaffer either. Sanchez done his chances no harm though.

Doherty isn't ousting Emerson even if this was his favoured role at Wolves.

Dele was the only midfielder who didn't get any minutes, pretty damning, hard to see where he fits into this side, though I've thought that under Poch, Jose and Nuno too. Lo Celso's short cameo was a mess, not sure how it was possible to get multiple things wrong in such a short space of time. Ndombele and Winks will have possibly given Conte something to think about for the Everton game though.

Bergwijn also couldn't get on despite Son and Lucas both being subbed, similar to Dele, quite damning. Though the sending off may have affected his chances as we essentially switched to a 352 (well, 351 to be exact) to load up the midfield knowing Vitesse would come on stronger and try taking advantage of having an extra man... For a while at least .

With a CB and CM seemingly being Conte's two priority positions to strengthen in January if reports are to be believed, Rodon, Tanganga, Dele and possibly Lo Celso's futures could be up in the air whist Doherty and Bergwijn have decisions to make too as I don't see either getting a solid run in the side.

 

He set up similarly to how his Chelsea side did in 16/17, even including a fullback/centre-half:
Courtois, Moses, Azpilicueta, Luiz, Cahill, Alonso, Kante, Matic, Hazard, Pedro, Costa.
Wingbacks, the back three, two holding midfielders and wingers playing up near the striker.

I suspect he'll have a look at the centre-back selection first, then the central midfield pairing.

 

Like DH I also think his plan to look at players was probably affected by the sending off. I think it was notable that we looked ropey between the second yellow and the subs when we had basically a 441, and looked more assured once the subs happened and we went back to 3atb.

CBs will probably be his priority. I actually think Romero did what was asked to him aside from the yellows of course. He clearly wants one of the CBs to come in aggressively and get tight, that’s often a feature of 3atb because of the defensive cover offered and the lack of a 3rd man in midfield, and it’s something that Romero does naturally. I also think it suits Sanchez’s game and to a lesser extent, Dier and Tanganga.

In midfield I thought Skipp and Højbjerg were ok. They snapped to the ball aggressively in the first half and were everywhere. It always looked like we had an extra man. They fell off a bit though, whether that’s fitness or a change in the dynamics of the game after they scored and the madness of the second half I don’t know. I think they’re a fine CM pairing for that kind of game. Vitesse played a high line and we could play through them a bit. Against a team that will sit in I’d want to see Tanguy in there for one of them, or possibly a switch to 352 with a 10 and Kane/Son up top, because the focus would be more on building than quick transitions and the need for 2 pacy forwards + wingbacks would be less.

Either way I think we have a lot of options of approach with 3atb and overall it’s a formation that I think suits this squad much better. Excited to see how we develop going forward.

 

Agree with a lot of this.

Sanchez may get a second wind at the club, he looked good when he came on yesterday and IIRC his best football for Spurs was either in a back three or when partnered solely alongside Vertonghen, so seeing as Conte likes a back three, he could end up being someone that benefits from Conte's style and management if given chances.

I also mentioned the possible need for Ndombele in the side for creativity purposes (not that his level of creativity is much to brag about) and whether that's replacing one of Hojbjerg or Skipp in a 343 or replacing Lucas and going to a 352. Could be something to keep an eye on in the next few games and see how we do with or without him starting.

The thing I'd perhaps differ on is options, we may have a lot of personnel to choose from but I'm not sure we actually have enough good ones. The first XI has weaknesses of its own and the squad just doesn't offer much. Ndombele when he can be arsed is probably the only player that was on our bench last night with the genuine ability to impact a game or help switch tactics/ formation in my opinion, whilst I also think Gil has the potential to do so but he obviously wasn't on the bench due to injury.

I'm hoping that in January we can add some first XI options (at least two, ideally three), that will then result in some of the current first XI dropping to the bench and then in theory create some decent options outside of the first XI.

 

When I say options I mean in terms of setup. 343 to 352 is a change that only requires one sub and let’s us switch approaches on the fly in a game depending on what the opposition are doing. We definitely need more depth in the squad though like you say. A CM who can put in the off ball work of Skipp/Højbjerg but can also be creative would improve us and offer even more tactical flexibility. Oh Dembele, you are ever missed.

 

He's literally made for Antonio Conte football.

What a player.

 

It's hard to know where to start on last night's performance. Maybe, that in Hugo, we have a very good goalkeeper and without him, we'd have got our arse kicked. If he will sign a contract, we have to get him to stay. In a back 5, last night's wing backs are probably the best we've got and Emerson Royale was our best outfield player, by some distance.

That's the good stuff done. Pretty much everything else was chaos after the initial madness. I'm not going to presume to tell Nuno (I mean Conte - I'd tell Nuno) what to do, but wholeheartedly wish him good luck in finding a midfield 2 with enough balance to play in front of our best 3 centre backs and deal with the sporadic/disorganised/unfit looking pressing that took place, from time to time, up top.

Some of the reasons for Nuno's failure were clearly on show, not least of all, how much fitter Vitesse's players looked compared to ours. I'm wondering whether Ndombele is still the least fit player we've got? After 25 minutes, a whole load of them were blowing really hard. Given the paucity of some of the back up options, Conte's got some task balancing all of the problems he's taken on.

Had Conte not inspired the initial 25 minute, new manager bounce, whirlwind and the will to try to hold onto the game after Romero lost his ****ing mind, we'd have been given a proper lesson. I hope that the owners saw something of what I saw, because Conte needs them to back him with some talent asap. If Kane, Son and Hugo get injured, we're in trouble, because they can get this team out of jail.

This club owes Conte a significant debt of gratitude for taking this on. Had we replaced Nuno with Fonseca, I'd be flirting with putting money on us getting relegated...but with him, I genuinely believe that we will consistently improve. It's been a few years since I could think or say that.

 

I think he may have just indirectly hinted that too:

 

Amen to that.

 

I thought that was a big positive.
They tested Lloris with a couple of shots, but they really should've done a lot better.

 

Oh, I agree. I doubt that the same level of conviction would have been forthcoming with Nuno, Fonseca or A.N.Other mediocre coach at the helm.

Conte's a permanent presence on the touchline...barking out instructions, encouragement, threats....whatever. It's motivational and I'd flog myself senseless to avoid him hauling me over the coals.

As to them doing better, I thought they were pretty wretched in the home game. They had lots of possession but scarcely looked like scoring. Last night, they were a fair bit better but they're a limited outfit, no matter how decent we made them look. Any United fan thinking that sticking 3 past us on Saturday amounts to any return to form, is deluding themselves.

 

I don't think that many of them are labouring under that delusion, to be honest.
The remaining few might get a rude awakening this weekend.

 

Conte's presence on the touch line is so much what this team needs. I was surprised at the amount of time Jose spent sitting, I seem to remember him being much more active in his first spell at Chelsea. Spurs have been coasting for some time now, some Italian style Neil Warnock on the touch line won't go amiss. Conte's reputation for changing tactics to suit during the game is ,for me, an exciting prospect. I always enjoyed that aspect of Venables football management for example.

 

Toby went home last night with a small gift of appreciation

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