Why has Tottenham’s form dipped and what can Antonio Conte do to improve them?
Tottenham face Brighton on Saturday having failed to win three of their last four games, but what’s behind the poor results?
The loss of in-form Dejan Kulusevski to a hamstring injury was undeniably a blow, but the summer signing of Richarlison at Tottenham was designed for these situations.
The Brazilian can and has played right, left or centrally in his Premier League career and could slot in for Kulusevski on the right.
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But in reality, Tottenham’s attack looks unbalanced without the Swede. Spurs have not won, nor even scored a goal in open play, in the last three games when Richarlison has joined Heung-Min Son and Harry Kane in attack.
The question now is whether Spurs would be better off changing their formation to compensate for the loss of Kulusevski’s creativity, should his injury absence continue or reoccur later in the season.
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Saturday 8th October 5:00pm Kick off 5:30pm
Antonio Conte has now started in a 3-4-3 formation for 26 succesive Premier League games, a run that started on the night of Kulusevski’s debut in February.
Conte last strayed from his favoured system against his former club Chelsea in January when he deployed a 4-4-2 – effectively selecting four full-backs.
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But the summer signing of Yves Bissouma and return to fitness of Oliver Skipp realistically allows Conte to switch to a three-man central midfield, potentially allowing for greater control in games.
The stats rank Tottenham 12th for average possession in the Premier League this term, but even then, the majority of passes come in their own half – the highest proportion in the division.
The fact Spurs have played the final 20 minutes of the last two league games with three in central midfield – compared to a grand total of 12 minutes across the first six games – indicates Conte might be warming to a system change in an attempt to gain greater control of games.
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The team also suffers a notable dip in creativity without Kulusevski. Since his debut, the Swede has registered team-topping numbers for assists (11), dribbles (70), and runs with the ball which end in a chance being created (22).
The expected goals per chance created by Kulusevski is 0.12 – much higher than that of Kane (0.08) or Son (0.07).
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Introducing Bissouma into the team would appear the most obvious move, perhaps even starting with the trip to his former club Brighton on Saturday.
It could be only a second start for Bissouma since joining Tottenham following the 1-1 draw at West Ham in August, when Rodrigo Bentancur was out with concussion.
The profile of Bissouma based on his Premier League stats since the start of last season suggests a player who could complement Tottenham’s current midfield pair of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Bentancur.
Bissouma ranks impressively for tackles and interceptions. Since August 2021, his 5.2 tackles and interceptions per 90 minutes is second only to Leicester midfielder Wilfred Ndidi (5.24) in the Premier League, among all players with 20 or more starts.
Image: Yves Bissouma has been a peripheral figure since joining Tottenham from Brighton
On average, Bissouma’s passes are short and close to his own goal – which would provide greater security and allow the more advanced Hojbjerg and Bentancur to extend their impressive contributions for chances created and passes into the final third.
Conte has implemented tactical tweaks midway through seasons in the past and with great success. Most famously, the Italian switched to a three-man defence seven league games into his first season in England in 2016/17, with Chelsea immediately embarking on a 13-match winning run and proceeding to secure the title by a seven-point margin.
With Inter, two seasons ago, Conte responded to a run of one win in four Serie A games by altering his midfield make-up, bringing in former Spurs man Christian Eriksen to start 13 of the final 19 games – having been on the bench for 14 of the first 19. Inter responded by winning 16 of those final 19 games, finishing 12 points ahead of the field.
It may take another bold tactical move from Conte to kickstart Spurs’ season and prevent their recent off-key performances from escalating into something more worrying.
Watch Brighton vs Tottenham live on Sky Sports Premier League on Saturday from 4.30pm; kick off 5.30pm
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