If a fish rots from the head down, does that make Spurs’ woes Daniel Levy’s fault? Or Antonio Conte’s? Both of them? As Spurs went 2-0 down (again) at home to Aston Villa, Levy bore the brunt of fans’ anger as they chanted for him to “get out of our club”. Conte has one month to fix it before they turn on him too.
To some extent, that has already start to happen. His introduction of Djed Spence, a signing he has admitted was not his idea and whom he has handed just four appearances this season, all from the bench, was sarcastically applauded. His decision to bring on Emerson Royal was booed.
Still, Conte insisted, “the performance was a good performance”. That was despite Villa registering twice Spurs’ number of attempts on target and more than 50 per cent more shots overall, with significantly less of the ball. Finishing fourth last season, he said, was “a miracle”. Why judge this totally inept Tottenham attack when Dejan Kulusevski and Richarlison (who is not even first choice) were injured anyway?
The answer is to wait and see – but not for too long. Like everything about Spurs right now, there is no hint of long-termism, but there aren’t many quick fixes either. Conte is out of contract this summer; a new deal is in the works, but he hasn’t signed it. There is Spence, and Skipp, and Sessegnon but none of them start. Those who do aren’t faring any better.
Conte said afterwards that the first goal had changed the game and knocked “the confidence of the players”. He will have to pick them up quickly ahead of a horrible month: Crystal Palace away, Portsmouth in the FA Cup, then Arsenal, Manchester City and high-flying Fulham.
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Conte’s variance on his favoured 3-4-3 system has involved packing five into the midfield, but rarely going four at the back. At Inter Milan, he enjoyed success with a 3-5-2, which he experimented with against Liverpool and Newcastle. Yet all the evidence points to a disconnect between his reliance on wing-backs and those players’ understanding of what he wants them to do. Spurs have fallen behind in 10 successive matches – that cannot be the result of a cunning plan.
But it is the result of damage limitation. The players Spurs signed this summer, particularly Ivan Perisic, were bought to fit in with a 3-4-3, rather than fitting the formation around the players. The wing-backs have occupied so much space out wide that Son Heung-min, already out of form, has been neutralised even further. In the middle, Yves Bissouma and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg have to win the midfield battle but are failing to do so when Rodrigo Bentancur, who has an adductor injury, is not present.
Both Jose Mourinho and Mauricio Pochettino had Spurs playing some of their best football with a 4-2-3-1. This would suit the current set-up – even if it requires Harry Kane dropping into a No 10 role.
New signings
Historically Levy has been reluctant to invest in the January window – he is far from the only Premier League chairman who views it as panic stations. But the Villa defeat exposed how threadbare this squad is.
“There is Kane, Son, Richarlison and Kulusevski,” Conte said. “When it happened that two of these [are injured], and this season it happened a few times, with Richarlison and Kulusevski, you are in trouble.”
Against Villa, Spurs turned to Bryan Gil, who makes all the right runs but does not yet look physically strong enough. Lucas Moura is likely to leave, which will make the attack even thinner. Arguably, there are countless other positions which need strengthening too. A long-term successor to Hugo Lloris is one – he has made three errors this season leading to goals, so his spill of Douglas Luiz’s shot cannot be put down to post-World Cup rust.
Another is a right-back to upgrade Emerson and Matt Doherty. The same applies at left-back. Barcelona’s Franck Kessie is one target, but Spurs are facing fierce competition for his signature from elsewhere and may not even have Champions League football to offer next season.
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Spurs have lost seven games in all competitions so far this season – Kulusevski has not started any of them – and the Swedish forward has more assists than any other Spurs player this term (five). But without him, Conte’s side averages a third of the goals per game compared to with him in the XI.
Bissouma’s role
Hojbjerg is not always consistent, but at least his role is clear. Bissouma’s is vague; he does not have the creative freedom that made him such a success under Graham Potter at Brighton, but nor is he defensively minded enough to be assigned in a midfield two with the Denmark international. Oliver Skipp, had his progress not been interrupted by injuries, would have given Conte another option. Perhaps that will be the part of Pape Sarr, who was impressive in his cameo appearance against Villa and may have put himself in contention to start against Crystal Palace.
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