Not for the first time this season, Tottenham‘s fringe players failed miserably to stake their claims for more regular game time during Thursday’s shock 2-1 defeat to NS Mura in the Europa Conference League.
Antonio Conte rang the changes from Sunday’s narrow victory over Leeds United, making nine in total, with only Japhet Tanganga and Harry Kane retaining their starting places.
None of those brought into the side impressed, although some fared particularly badly. Ryan Sessegnon said he was eager to “kickstart my career” before the game, but was sent off after 32 minutes. Davinson Sanchez was badly at fault for both goals. Dele Alli and Tanguy Ndombele were both substituted in the second half.
A tell-tale sign of Conte’s dissatisfaction with the performance of his players was that he used his full five-sub quota with Lucas Moura, Son Heung-min and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg among the players introduced in a bid to inject some spark into Spurs’ performance.
Conte used his post-match press conference as an opportunity to warn his squad that their futures at the club are on the line. “For sure we need players with the right mentality and with the quality, players that deserve to play for Tottenham and aspire to be competitive, to fight for this shirt, to win something,” he said. “I’m making my evaluations and then I’ll speak with the club.”
Considering the result, which must rank among the worst in Tottenham’s entire history, it is inevitable that Conte will make multiple changes once more for Sunday’s game against Burnley at Turf Moor.
Defence
Cristian Romero cannot return quickly enough. The Argentine’s Spurs career only spans 13 matches, but it is already obvious that he is the club’s best central defender by some distance. His injury-enforced absence, described as “serious” by his manager, is an almighty blow, particularly this weekend given Burnley’s in-your-face style.
It would be a surprise to see Sanchez retain his place after his horror show in Slovenia, while Joe Rodon’s substitution 10 minutes after half-time doesn’t bode well for his chances either. Virtually by default, Eric Dier, Japhet Tanganga and Ben Davies seem likely to form the back three, in front of Hugo Lloris, who was spared the ignominy of Thursday’s loss.
Wing-backs Emerson Royal and Sergio Reguilon also watched the game from the bench and will retain their starting places after impressing in Conte’s opening few matches.
Midfield
It will be Hojbjerg and one other in central midfield. Oliver Skipp has started nine of Tottenham’s 12 Premier League matches this season but missed the win over Leeds due to suspension. The 21-year-old didn’t do much to earn his place back this weekend against Mura, although he did complete the 90 minutes which is 15 more than Ndombele managed. Alli, meanwhile, was taken off shortly after the restart and seems no closer to recapturing his peak form of a few years ago.
Although Ndombele has shown flashes of quality since completing a club record £54m move from Lyon in 2019, he has struggled to nail down a set position under a succession of managers and delivered one-off moments of quality, rather than any sustained form over a significant period of time. Conte said last week that the Frenchman must “work much more than the others” to secure a starting spot.
Giovani Lo Celso, another big-money signing who has struggled for consistency during his time in English football, is an injury doubt, which leaves Harry Winks. Like most of his teammates, Winks struggled during the first-half against Leeds but grew into it during the second. That display might be enough to keep him in the side at Skipp’s expense.
Attack
It is a sign of where Tottenham are at right now that the front three picks itself, despite none of the trio being in particularly good form. Often limited to a super-sub role under Mauricio Pochettino, Lucas Moura has been a favourite of Tottenham’s last three managers due to his enthusiasm and work rate and will likely start on the right-wing.
Son is currently enduring one of his patchy spells, as shown by his record of one goal in his previous seven matches for Spurs, the very first of the Conte era against Vitesse. The South Korean has gone four Premier League games without scoring a goal or providing an assist.
The same applies to Kane, who has managed just one of each in 918 minutes of league football this term, both in the 3-2 win against Newcastle last month. A lovely dinked finish in Slovenia in midweek took the England captain to 18 goals for club and country this term, but if Spurs are to make any headway under Conte, he will have to start delivering against a tougher calibre of opposition soon.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3cYmQ6V
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