Premier League: Antonio Conte's Tottenham revolution is in full flow
There are certain things one can expect from an Antonio Conte team.
This is why at the time of the Italian’s appointment at Tottenham Hotspur, some were concerned it might be an awkward fit.
Spurs, at that moment, were a long way from being a Conte team.
That, however, might now be changing if Sunday’s 2-2 draw against Liverpool is anything to go by.
Spurs transformation has started
A point did little to impact Spurs’ place in the Premier League table, with the North London side now seventh, six points off the Champions League qualification spots, but the performance they produced hinted at a team transformed.
Conte’s ideas are being absorbed by his new players, specifically the ideas that made Inter Milan Italian champions last season. The same blueprint is now being used to reshape Tottenham.
The trademark back three was there with Ben Davies, Eric Dier and Davinson Sanchez giving Tottenham a defensive basis with Emerson Royal and Ryan Sessegnon performing the roles that Achraf Hakimi and Ivan Persisic did for Conte’s Inter.
On the ball, Spurs were quick to push the wing backs high up the pitch to give themselves an outlet. Out of possession, though, Emerson and Sessegnon tucked in to form a back five.
As Liverpool started to take a grip of things, Emerson and Sessegnon found themselves pushed back further than Conte surely would have liked, but the latter in particular always demonstrated a willingness to break forward whenever possible. Hakimi would have approved of Sessegnon’s determination to burst into the opposition box.
Emphasis on the counter-attack
However, the starkest replication of Conte’s Inter blueprint was evident in the way Tottenham played in the centre of the pitch where a midfield trio of Dele Alli, Tanguy Ndombele and Harry Winks gave the hosts a platform. This wasn’t a platform to retain possession, though. It was a territorial platform from which Spurs built several counter attacks throughout the match.
Ndombele was key to the game plan, with the Frenchman given the freedom to stride forward with the ball at his feet.
While Dele and Winks were there to play in a relatively deep position to keep Tottenham compact in the centre of the pitch, Ndombele was an important link to prevent the attack from becoming isolated. This is something Nicolo Barella did for Conte’s Inter.
When Ndombele was withdrawn just after the hour mark, Dele took on the duty of breaking the lines, registering more dribbles (four) than any of his teammates. This was another positive sign for Spurs, proving that Conte’s system can be implemented by a number of players who understand it.
Conte deployed Harry Kane and Son Heung-min as a front two in much the same way he did with Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez during his two seasons at Inter, with the Tottenham pair given space to run into.
Of course, this was a ploy Jose Mourinho also used to good effect as Spurs boss, but the North London side’s set-up against Liverpool was classically Conte.
Creativity no longer an issue
Spurs should have scored more than twice (they finished with an Expected Goals value of 2.86 compared to Liverpool’s 1.46).
They had the chances to win the match with Dele, Kane and Son all spurning golden opportunities to find the back of the net as Tottenham exploited space in behind Liverpool numerous times. The absence of Virgil van Dijk didn’t help the away team in that regard.
At a time when elite level teams are expected to press hard and fast, Conte’s teams are more nuanced in their off-the-ball approach. Indeed, Tottenham were relatively happy to let Liverpool have possession for periods of the match. But the pressing triggers were there for all to see.
xG created by Tottenham in Antonio Conte's first five EPL games:
— Sporting Life Football & Infogol (@InfogolApp) December 19, 2021
‣ 0.85 v EVE
‣ 2.48 v LEE
‣ 2.43 v BRE
‣ 2.14 v NOR
‣ 2.86 v LIV
xG created by Tottenham in Nuno Espirito Santo's first five EPL games:
‣ 1.30 v MCI
‣ 1.57 v WOL
‣ 1.19 v WAT
‣ 0.10 v CRY
‣ 0.78 v CHE pic.twitter.com/DRXbuTEgkt
This is another important role performed by the wing backs in Conte’s system with Sessegnon in particular quick to close down Liverpool players. There was also cohesion in the way the likes of Kane, Ndombele and Son backed up whoever led the Spurs press with the visitors to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium robbed of the ball more than a few times in their own half (nine times to be exact).
In binary terms, Conte’s approach is based on a lot of vertical movement and there was plenty of that in Tottenham’s play - they completed eight out of 19 attempted dribbles and played 32 accurate long passes.
Conte will expect even better of his new team, with the Italian still assessing many of his players, but the Italian no longer looks to be such an awkward fit.
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