Antonio Conte's first pre-season at Tottenham has gone well so far. Off the pitch, Spurs have signed six players and let four go this summer.
On the pitch, the Lilywhites have won two and drawn one of their three pre-season friendlies so far, with one final game to go. Spurs will face Jose Mourinho's Roma on Saturday, a week before they welcome Southampton to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The Italian could be without both Oliver Skipp and Ben Davies for the final friendly, with both picking up knocks in the last week and neither were spotted in Tottenham's training video. The Italian will need those who are available to put in a solid performance, creating some momentum before the start of the 2022/23 campaign.
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Ahead of Saturday's tie, football.london takes a look at what we spotted in training.
Wing-backs in action
Wing-backs are such a vital part of Conte's system, with them needing to make an impact down the flanks and at both ends of the field. However, there were some struggles last year, with getting to grips with the new set-up.
Emerson Royal and Sergio Reguilon in particular were struggling to make a consistent impact down the flanks. Ryan Sessegnon and Matt Doherty were much better suited to the role, but both had injury issues.
The Brazilian did improve as the season went on and he was given more game time and Conte now has Ivan Perisic and Djed Spence to add as options in the wing-back roles. This will hopefully hand the Italian an added boost and if both Royal and Reguilon make an exit this summer, he would have four strong contenders for the wing-back roles.
In training this week, the clip Spurs put online showed the wing-backs crossing the ball in for their teammates to get on the end of and slot into the back of the net. Sessegnon, Royal and Perisic all put in some solid crosses and they now need to replicate that consistently on matchdays.
Antonio Conte shouting
Conte's tough managerial methods have been seen since his arrival last November and haven't stopped during pre-season. Whilst Tottenham were on tour in South Korea, the open training session worked the squad to the ground, with their almost 5km run after the two hour session.
However the Italian's regimented technique has clearly worked, with great improvements seen both on and off the pitch. In some training sessions the 52-year-old takes a bit of a back seat, with his coaching staff seeming to run most of the session.
Ahead of the Roma fixture this wasn't the case. Conte was seen walking round with a stop-watch and looked as though he was making careful assessments of his players. The Spurs boss was shouting instructions during the session, preparing his side for their final pre-season friendly.
Returning players
With a couple of players out injured and a number being left out of pre-season completely (Reguilon, Harry Winks, Tanguy Ndombele and Giovani Lo Celso), Conte has to deal with the players he does have available.
Alfie Devine and Dane Scarlett haven't been involved in much of Tottenham's pre-season as they were given some extra time off, after their part in England's U19 Euros victory. Both were spotted in this week's training video and got stuck straight back in.
Devine had high energy, with some good movement. Scarlett has now made the temporary move to Portsmouth, which Spurs announced on Wednesday evening, but the 17-year-old has still been battling hard at Hotspur Way.
Lucas Moura impact
Lucas was one of the players who struggled for regular game time last season, with the front three performing so well for the Lilywhites, after Dejan Kulusevski's arrival. Richarlison has now made the move to N17 and Bryan Gil has returned from his loan spell at Valencia, which originally made it look even less likely that Moura would get regular time on the pitch.
However the Brazilian has now had his opportunity to feature as a right wing-back, which Conte spoke on after Tottenham's 1-1 draw to Sevilla. "I spoke with Lucas and I think that this will be a good option for me and in the past I converted Perisic in that position. [Victor] Moses was the same. [Antonio] Candreva was the same. Before a winger and then to become a wing-back. For sure he has great quality Lucas and I think this could be a good option," he explained.
"The most important thing is that the player has to be 100 per cent sure to do it, but he is available and Lucas Moura for us is a great resource because he can play in many role. He can play behind the striker, on the right, on the left, as a wing back. I'm very happy for his commitment for what I'm seeing in the training sessions and tonight I think he played a good game."
Although with Spence's arrival, an opportunity playing at wing-back may be more difficult next season, but his versatility could be a boost. During training, the final clip in the session showed Rodrigo Bentancur having a shot from close range and Lucas getting in front of the ball to defend it.
The Brazilian has already shown his attacking qualities and if he can now improve his defensive capabilities, he could become a very good option for Conte as a wing-back, when needed.
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