Tottenham Hotspur

Spurs Trio Send a Message to Conte in Impressive Liverpool Performance

Posted on by Andy Gardner

Whether it was by luck or design as a result of contending with a flurry of Covid cases in his squad, Tottenham manager Antonio Conte made a series of changes for the Premier League clash with Liverpool at the weekend, with Dele Alli, Tanguy Ndombele and Harry Winks returning to the side after respective spells on the sideline.

All three turned in strong performances and sent the Italian coach reminders that their futures might be in North London after all despite persistent rumours suggesting they might all be headed for the exit in the upcoming January transfer window. 

In a game that was played out with little in the way of a settled pattern or structure, ultimately resulting in an action-packed 2-2 draw, Spurs took the lead through another player looking to send a reminder of his talent, Harry Kane, after an excellent through ball from Ndombele.

The Frenchman is the definition of a mercurial talent; one who arrived at White Hart Lane in the summer of 2019 while Mauricio Pochettino was still in charge. Including the Argentinian, Spurs are now on their fourth full-time manager since Ndombele’s arrival and it is arguable that none of those bosses have been able to coax his best performances out on a regular basis.

A player who, when at his most confident and secure, can be a wizard on the ball, conjuring tricks and skills to occupy a dozen YouTube showreels, Ndombele may be stifled by the pace and physicality of the Premier League, although his successful time in France with Lyon and Amiens, where the game is hardly pedestrian, would suggest otherwise.

What seems more likely is that a player and character who thrives on freedom and being given space tactically to express himself is finding the transition to structure and discipline to be difficult, unsurprisingly. This is further exacerbated when you consider that his full-time bosses at the Lane include Jose Mourinho and Nuno Espirito Santo, two managers who prioritise the collective and solidity over individuality and expression.

Whether or not Conte can find a role that suits Ndomble will be pivotal to how his spell with the club plays out, as shoe-horning him into a hard-running, up-and-back midfield duty looks unlikely to get the best from him – especially when there are others in this squad capable of doing that particular job to a higher level.

Alli, meanwhile, has been the Premier League player most consistently linked with a move to Newcastle United, with the newly-rich Mapies rumoured to be keen on just about any player not holding down a regular place in their current side.

After exploding onto the League One scene in 2011 with his local side, MK Dons, including an eye-catching performance in a 4-0 win over Manchester United in the League Cup, Alli rapidly ascended to exulted levels, lighting up the Premier League and the Champions League at the heart of Pochettino’s energetic Spurs team.

He seemed to be a perfect, modern footballer – equal parts athletic, technical and creative with an eye for a goal and a keen sense for a late run into the box. His footballing relationships with Kane and Heung-Min Son were devastating for opponents and endearing for Spurs fans as he quickly became something of a darling for the White Hart Lane faithful.

Standout moments for Alli in his early Spurs days were a spectacular goal against Crystal Palace where he juggled the ball before turning and volleying home and a brace in a 3-1 win at Chelsea, the club’s first success at Stamford Bridge in 28 years. He collected the PFA Young Player of the Year Award in 15/16 and 16/17, becoming only the third player to claim the trophy twice in succession since its inception in 1974 and a strong showing in the 2018 World Cup sparked rumours of a possible move to Real Madrid.

However, after signing a six-year contract in 2018, Alli’s career has somewhat stalled – under Mourinho, he struggled to nail down a regular place in Spurs’ starting eleven, with the Portuguese manager feeling that he wasn’t a midfield player but seemingly not trusting him enough to find a place for him in attack.

Despite making 38 appearances in 18/19 and 19/20, Alli had drifted into something of a peripheral position at Spurs and only featured in 15 Premier League games in the whole of 20/21, a season which saw Mourinho’s side initially start well before fading badly after football’s restart following the suspension for Covid. If anything, Alli made more headlines that season for his on-screen dealings with Mourinho during the Amazon All Or Nothing documentary than for his on-field performances.

This campaign started promisingly for Alli, with Nuno finding a regular role for him in a deeper midfield position, but by the end of October there was frustration on both sides, with the former Wolves manager eventually omitting him from his matchday squads.

In the end, somewhat predictably, things didn’t work out for Nuno at Spurs and the former Porto goalkeeper was relieved of his duties after just four months in charge, making way for Conte’s arrival in November.

The Italian coach is known for playing a 3-5-2 or 3-4-3 formation where hard work and sacrifice are key, suggesting that it might be difficult for Alli to find a place – however, there were similar thoughts around another player with Spurs connections, Christian Eriksen, during the 20/21 season at Inter Milan. Conte was thought to not be a fan of the Danish playmaker, to the point of looking to offload him in the January transfer window. However, Inter’s owners insisted that the former Juventus boss should play with the toys he already had before any further additions, and after some tactical tinkering, Eriksen played a central role in the Nerazzuri claiming their first league title in a decade.

Against Liverpool, Alli showed the kind of verve and intelligence that makes him a dangerous player for Spurs, joining rapid breaks to either create opportunities for others or find himself in position to take chances himself – in fact, it was only an excellent save from the Reds’ ‘keeper Alisson that denied Alli from doubling his goal tally for the season.

If Alli could return to something like his form of 2016, 17 or 18, then Spurs would have an outstanding player on their hands, capable of match-winning moments on the biggest stages. Remarkably, he is still only 26 years old, so to write off a player of his undoubted talent would be a huge waste and one that could come back to haunt Spurs if he were to join a rival Premier League club.

Winks, meanwhile, is perhaps a player who has yet to find his place or to reach his peak. A busy midfielder who connects play and shuttles the ball to different areas rather than springing open defences with splitting passes, Pochettino described him as being in the mould of Barcelona icons Xavi and Andrés Iniesta, which might seem like lofty praise, but indicates his disposition as a contrast to more physical athletes in the squad at the time like Victor Wanyama or Moussa Sissoko.

Fast-forward to 2021 and Winks remains with Spurs while many others in midfield have moved on. At the same time, the club have shelled out on the likes of Giovani Lo Celso, who operates in similar spaces to Winks, reducing his opportunities to hold down a place in the side.

His role in a team is probably more along the lines of a deep-lying playmaker, attracting the ball from his team-mates in defence and then recycling possession before creating space for others to catch the eye further up the field.

Players like Winks have often struggled in the English game, where pace, power and getting stuck in will always be favourable characteristics. This is perhaps best characterised at Spurs by the arrival of Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, who has seemingly secured a regular place through a combative and industrious approach to the game.

The issue for Winks is that it is hard to imagine him being a regular starter for any of Spurs’ rivals; that said, against Liverpool he played an important role in Spurs’ midfield and demonstrated that he is more than capable of mixing it with the likes of Naby Keita in the Reds’ midfield.

This season he has only appeared in five Premier League fixtures, but if he can show more of the kind of performance he put in against one of the League’s best sides, there’s no reason to think he shouldn’t feature in Conte’s future plans. 

Eriksen emphasises his importance to leave Spurs in a jam

Posted on by Andy Gardner

Spurs' midfield playmaker Christian Eriksen: will he stay or will he go?

Hoorah! Football is back after what feels like a lifetime – or at least a couple of weeks – with the return of the Premier League. There were ominously large victories for Manchester City and Liverpool on the opening weekend, suggesting that we might, at best, be in for another two-horse title race, but we should probably expect another significant gap to the rest. 

Leading that chasing pack is likely again to be Tottenham, who belatedly sparked into life in their opening clash, eventually out-muscling newly promoted Aston Villa to claim a 3-1 win. The Villains, returning to the top flight after three seasons in the Championship, showed plenty of promise in their own performance, led by an outstanding display from central defender Tyrone Mings and an early smash-and-grab goal from John McGinn that threatened to claim all three points until deep into the second half. 

Until that point, Spurs had been, at best, blunt in attack, creating few chances despite dominating possession and territory – a situation that threatened to perpetuate the theory that star striker Harry Kane struggles to find the net in the month of August. 

With the England captain Kane being less supported, more swamped by the likes of Erik Lamela and Lucas Moura, Spurs looked bereft of ideas, struggling to create space and restricted to half-chances falling the way of Moussa Sissoko, whose finishing continues to display all the confidence of someone who scores roughly every two-and-bit years. 

However, that all changed with the introduction of Spurs’ Danish midfield schemer, Christian Eriksen, who has been the subject of a number of transfer rumours since making clear his desire to seek a new challenge away from North London, back in June. 

That declaration of intent was typical of Eriksen – understated, relatively classy but with clear intent that he was destined for more. This is a player that deserves to win titles, trophies and to be considered among the elite. 

That said, finding a landing spot for a player in this market is more complicated than it sounds; despite being in the final year of his contract, Eriksen is still viewed by Tottenham’s chairman, Daniel Levy, as being of great value, understandably, with a transfer fee in the region of £65m thought to be needed to capture his signature. 

Talk of a switch to Manchester United has never really taken off this summer and with the Premier League transfer window now closed, that route seems to be a dead end. In any case, Eriksen’s desired destination is thought to be Real Madrid, who have spent significantly this summer with returning coach Zinedine Zidane thought to be trying to show a lively dressing room – and boardroom – who’s boss. 

With the Madrid club in mind, continental clubs can play a waiting game with players heading towards the end of their contracts, choosing to eschew hefty transfer sums payable to the selling club and instead agree a pre-contract arrangement from 1st January, allowing them to siphon more cash into the star’s pocket as a result of the Bosman ruling. 

All of which leaves Spurs with a headache. On Saturday, they were stodgy, narrow and predictable until Eriksen’s arrival. After his return to the side they came to life, opening up the play and creating a number of clear-cut opportunities, leading to a debut goal for Tanguy Ndombele – who looks like he has the attributes to be a key player for Spurs – and two strikes for Kane, laying to rest the August curse nonsense. 

While Eriksen might not have been directly involved in all three goals, his influence was all over them, accepting the ball in tight areas, spotting passes that other players miss and moving the play rapidly from non-threatening positions into advanced parts of the pitch to stretch a well-organised defence to breaking point. 

It’s possible to suggest that, despite playing less than half of the game, this was a man-of-the-match performance from the Dane, unlocking the Villa defence and, ultimately, being central to Spurs claiming the win. 

Which only further underlines his value to the team – more effective than his midfield colleagues despite being given less than half the opportunity, Eriksen is the heartbeat of this side. If this game was, intentionally or otherwise, a chance for Spurs to test life after Christian, then it was not a pleasant experience. Admittedly, they do have a number of new and returning stars to bolster their attacking options – Heung-Min Son has one game left on his suspension while Dele Alli continues his comeback from injury and Giovani Lo Celso arrives from Betis with great promise – but it’s hard to imagine any of them having the same game-turning impact that Eriksen demonstrated here. 

Spurs are left with few potential outcomes: they either have to find a buyer for Eriksen before the transfer window closes on the continent at the end of August, which looks unlikely given that any potential move would have to work for all parties, or allow him to run down his current deal and potentially move for free. The third – and probably least likely solution – would be for Eriksen to backtrack and sign a new deal with the club. One possibility in this respect would be for Spurs to insert a release clause that would see Eriksen move if a certain fee was triggered, although finding the right level for all involved could be tricky. 

Levy has demonstrated in the past that he drives a hard bargain and generally sees the club come out on top – take the moves to Madrid of Luka Modric and Gareth Bale as examples. Conjuring up a solution that works for Spurs on this occasion would rank highly in Levy’s achievements to date, otherwise this could be the first in a number of costly departures that could see the likes of Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghan and even manager Mauricio Pochettino following Eriksen out of the door.