Antonio Conte has a big dilemma to solve ahead of Saturday’s visit of Leicester.
Drop an already “angry” Son Heung-min and risk upsetting him even more or start last season’s joint-top goalscorer in the Premier League again in the hope he can end his drought against the struggling Foxes.
Son went an eighth game without a goal during Tuesday’s 2-0 defeat at Sporting Lisbon where he failed to register a single shot and was hauled off in the 72nd minute.
After a slow start to the new campaign, it has been clear in recent weeks that Conte is trying his best to play Son into form. He did so by dropping Dejan Kulusevski, who had arguably started the season as Tottenham‘s most in-form attacker.
It resulted in Conte changing his usual man-management stance, he admitted: “To drop Deki for three games in a row, honestly, for me it was difficult.
“I don’t like to give explanations to my players because otherwise in every game I have to speak to one, to another one and another one.
“I think the most important thing is to have respect about the role, but at the same time, I spoke with Deki because after three times in a row that you go on the bench, I think that he deserved to feel that my trust, my confidence was like always.”
With Kulusevski in line for a recall, the question is who makes way?
If we assume Harry Kane continues to lead the line, it makes it a straight shoot-out between Son and summer signing Richarlison, who has made a big impression already.
Conte reflected on Son’s poor form this week and appeared to hint his star attacker was tired.
“I think Sonny, for sure, he is not happy because he’s not scoring,” he said.
“I like that he’s a bit angry for this situation because it means that he wants to try to change it. Also because we need [him].
“We are talking about Sonny and he’s a really important player for us. At the same time, it can happen, especially when you play massive games, you can be a bit tired mentally, also your body. It can happen.”
If Son is feeling the strain after a demanding end to last season and busy summer where he took his team-mates to South Korea, the simple solution may be to give him a well-earned break by putting him on the bench against Leicester.
The trouble is the consequence of such a move when he is already low on confidence and especially given the fortunes of Saturday’s opponents, who are bottom of the table and have conceded 16 goals in six games.
Son would ordinarily be licking his lips at the prospect of facing Leicester and that could convince Conte to keep him in the starting XI once again.
He added: “When you score a lot of goals, the following season is more difficult because you are not an underdog, but are starting like you are the first top scorer up there with Mohamed Salah.
“A strong player copes with this situation, faces this situation ‘vis-a-vis’ and overcomes this situation.
“But again I repeat – Sonny has a lot of credit with me, with his team-mates, the fans and the whole environment. For this reason, Sonny for me will never be a problem.”
Lampard insists Everton won’t rush Pickford return
Frank Lampard will rein in Jordan Pickford’s desire to return quickly from injury to ensure his World Cup preparations do not suffer further disruption.
Pickford will miss Everton‘s home clash with West Ham this weekend plus England’s forthcoming Nations League fixtures after picking up a thigh injury in the Merseyside derby two weeks ago.
The England No 1 is expected back after the international break but Lampard will urge him to err on the side of caution and listen to the club’s medical staff for fear of aggravating the injury.
“I will be honest, Jordan would go and play on one quad for England in a friendly next week,” said the Everton manager. “We have to be sure that we do the right thing. I have spoken to Gareth about it and our physios and England’s physios are in conjunction, talking about it to make sure we do the right thing for Jordan.
“And the right thing for Jordan is the right thing for Everton and England. We just have to rehab it well. Hopefully he will be back in the next two or three weeks but we wouldn’t take any risks with him.
“If he was to re-injury the quad it would affect our batch of games up to the winter break and obviously affect his run up to the World Cup. So we are being very careful with that. We are working with Jordan and England.”
Lampard knows from his experience as a player the dangers of rushing back too early from a thigh muscle injury.
“Jordan is really keen [to return] but I learned as a player the negatives of that. I re-injured my quad a few times, trying to push my physio to get me back quicker. I’m now more experienced, so I can be on the other hand and make sure he does it in the right way. The experts are the physios. He’s keen but he is also very mature. He wants to play but we will find the right way.”
Meanwhile, talks over a new contract for Pickford are continuing. “We are very much having ongoing talks with his agent,” added Lampard. “There is a real desire on both sides to get the right conclusion to this.”
Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Abdoulaye Doucoure are both fit to return from injury for the visit of the Hammers while transfer deadline day signing James Garner could make his debut.
Arteta: White has given Southgate ‘a lot of reasons’ to be selected for World Cup
Mikel Arteta says his decision to turn Ben White into a right-back should not cost the Arsenal defender his World Cup dream.
White, 24, was left out of the England squad for Nations League games with Italy and Germany this month – the last fixtures before manager Gareth Southgate selects his playing pool for November’s World Cup finals.
Southgate named four specialist right-backs ahead of White while selecting Harry Maguire, who is out of favour at Manchester United, and the inexperienced Fikayo Tomori and Marc Guehi as central-defensive options. Arsenal manager Arteta insisted White was not injured and in contention to play at Brentford tomorrow.
And he argued that having a player who can play in more than one position should be attractive for an international coach.
England defenders in Southgate’s Nations League squad
The following defenders have been called up for England’s Nations League fixtures against Italy and Germany this month:
- Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Ben Chilwell (Chelsea), Conor Coady (Everton), Eric Dier (Tottenham), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Reece James (Chelsea), Harry Maguire (Man Utd), Luke Shaw (Man Utd), John Stones (Man City), Fikayo Tomori (AC Milan), Kieran Trippier (Newcastle), Kyle Walker (Man City)
“If you have a versatile player who can play at the level Ben can as both a central defender and full-back, in my opinion that’s something any manager would want, especially when you go to a tournament where a lot of things can happen,” he said. “But that’s Gareth’s decision.
“Gareth picks the best squad that he feels for now, it doesn’t mean that’s going to be the case in November. Ben has given a lot of reasons to be selected.”
Arteta also indicated he would be sympathetic to White should he ask to be moved back to the centre to boost his World Cup chances. “I would consider that because I want the best for my players and to have the best careers they can,” he said.
Arteta said Oleksandr Zinchenko could also feature against Brentford despite a statement from the Ukraine FA that he was out for two weeks with a calf injury.
“What we have decided to do for the international week doesn’t mean that we will decide the same for the weekend,” Arteta said.
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