Tottenham are still unbeaten, after their first six games of the 2022/23 campaign. Antonio Conte's side have now won four and drawn two of their opening matches, with a 2-1 win against Fulham on Saturday, meaning they are now level on points with Man City.
The fixtures will now come thick and fast for Spurs, with their return to Champions League football starting on Wednesday. However, the Lilywhites are likely to feel more confident going into the European competition, than they would have when Conte first arrived.
The Italian made five changes on Saturday, from the team that drew 1-1 to West Ham a few days before. Clement Lenglet made his Premier League debut, Richarlison got his first start in a Tottenham shirt, whilst Ryan Sessegnon, Cristian Romero and Rodrigo Bentancur all also returned.
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Spurs had 23 shots, with ten on target and it was a much better performance overall. Not only were there some solid individual displays, Tottenham controlled large spells of the match and produced a cohesive performance.
This is something Conte praised his side for, after the game. "For sure the performance, yeah I like the performance," he admitted.
"If I have to find a situation that we need to improve, it is to be more clinical because when you create so many chances, you have to score but we scored two goals disallowed, then the crossbar.
"Also to see the three strikers, Richy, Harry [Kane] and Sonny, work very hard for the team with the ball and without the ball. They give us a lot of quality with the ball and a lot of danger for the opponent because they moved very well and yeah, I am really pleased for our performance today," he added.
Tottenham had a successful transfer window, integrating six of their seven new signings into the squad already. However, Conte has been very honest and admitted that "if someone thinks we cancel everything and we are at the same level of the other top teams, I think this is not realistic.
"On the other hand, I am the first to push myself and push my players and tell them to play this season with the ambition to be competitive but we finished last season with 20 points less than City and Liverpool, and there was a lot of trouble last season for the club. Now I think we are doing good things but it’s really soon to give an unrealistic judgement, in my opinion."
Ahead of the Chelsea clash, Conte explained what he expected to have in this squad. "I think not only for me, for a club that has to face four competitions it is the minimum to have 20 players, two players for every role. I repeat this is the minimum," he said.
After the summer transfer window incomings and outgoings, this is what the Italian has. Due to the busy fixture schedule, rotation is inevitable and Conte needs all of his players to be able to step in when necessary.
Richarlison and Lenglet showed they can do this, which was noticed by the Italian. "I think they showed they are really good players who can improve us a lot to become stronger and to become also the squad deeper and give me the possibility to make rotation without a drop in quality," he said.
Not only did Conte make changes to his starting line-up he also made a couple of substitutions in the game, one which saw Kane replaced by Dejan Kulusevski. This isn't something that is often seen, with the England captain last being taken off in the 3-0 victory against Crystal Palace last December.
Kane got on the scoresheet and impressed his boss. "First of all, I’m really pleased for the way Harry is playing. Then you know very well, we needed his goal. But I’m pleased to see the way he is playing," Conte explained.
"He is a No.9 who is fantastic technically. He arrives sometimes with a strong pass. He cleaned the ball and he plays in a way you can only enjoy seeing him play."
When Kane went off, it only took Spurs just over ten minutes to find the back of the net again, although it was ruled offside. Richarlison had tapped in Sessegnon's cross and it would've topped off a solid display for the Brazilian.
Although the goal didn't count, it reiterates Conte's ability to make changes, "without a drop in quality". It also shows that Spurs don't have to rely on Kane and Son to score and although it was a shaky final five or ten minutes, they can cope without their star players.
This highlights the transfer window success from both Conte and Fabio Paratici and that the Italian's wishes have been met and are so far working. Now Tottenham need to continue this hard work, after a solid start to their 2022/23 campaign and take the momentum from Saturday to push on, in what will be a big week.
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