It has been a solid start to the season for Tottenham, despite the busy fixture schedule. Antonio Conte's side have won four and drawn two of their opening matches, currently sitting level on points with Man City inside the top four.
Not only do the Lilywhites have some tough games coming up, having to face Pep Guardiola's side on Saturday and Arsenal in a few weeks, Conte is also now preparing his side for their return to Champions League football. Spurs' European group also involves Frankfurt, Sporting CP and their first opponents, Marseille.
Due to the amount of games already so far, the Italian has rotated his team, making five changes in the 2-1 victory over Fulham at the weekend. Conte wanted to increase not only the size of the Tottenham squad, but also improve the quality in the depth of the squad, during the summer transfer window.
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Spurs did just that, making seven signings and ensuring there are two players available in every position. This has allowed the 53-year-old to make rotations in all areas of the field and has also meant those who usually play every week are able to have a rest.
Conte has given Emerson Royal the nod at right wing-back in all six games so far this season and is one of a few positions that hasn't been rotated yet, despite having the most options. Matt Doherty's 2021/22 campaign ended prematurely due to an injury and during Tottenham's pre-season tour in South Korea, he spoke on his recovery.
"You can only feel in so much good shape once you start all that running but I feel OK. I might need to give my knee a little bit of time, that’s normal," the Irishman admitted. "The more you train and the more reps you get [the aches] will go away. I can see that. Sometimes it will bother me and the longer the week goes it will ease off."
Conte also spoke on Doherty's fitness, at the end of July. "In this moment we have two players, [Ivan] Perisic and Doherty, they have to continue to work and reach the peak of fitness because after a long injury they are struggling a lot," he explained. "We need to have patience. We need to give time for these players to be really fit."
Doherty has been involved in every matchday squad so far, but only featured in the opening game of the season, coming on in the 87th minute in the 4-1 victory over Southampton. On Saturday, Conte was asked about the 30-year-old, as there had seemed to be hints that he would be the Italian's first choice on the right flank.
"Yeah but he had serious injury and honestly struggled a lot to recover good form to be fit. Now I think compared to the last game he played vs Roma in these two weeks, twenty days I have seen good improvement about himself," he admitted.
"You said last season he became first choice for that role but I want to win and I try to pick the best starting XI. Now if I'm not picking him it means others give me more guarantees. I trust him, I trust in all my players but they know very well that I want to win. I want to win and I pick the best starting XI in every games."
This summer, Tottenham also signed Djed Spence. The youngster played a major part in Nottingham Forest's promotion to the Premier League, during his loan spell with Steve Cooper's side. The Italian has always been very honest that the signing of Spence is an "investment for the club" and he spoke very honestly about his thoughts on the 22-year-old, last week.
"About Djed, I always tell everybody and talk about it being an investment for the club to sign a young player. When you sign a young player you know you have to wait, to work with him to try to improve. He is a good prospect, he is a perfect prospect for Tottenham but then if we talk about trying to be competitive to win, for sure we need other signings," Conte explained.
"This has to be very clear because otherwise we make confusion and I want to be very clear under this aspect. For sure, he will be a good player for the future for Tottenham."
This doesn't rule Spence out completely, but does highlight there is still work for the youngster to do and it doesn't sound as if he will be becoming Conte's first choice on the right flank anytime soon. It does seem that Conte is keeping his options open and waiting for players to impress, so he can give them a chance.
Last season, Doherty arguably performed better than Royal overall, when he was fit. The Irishman slots into the right wing-back position better, with his previous experience in the role.
The Brazilian has been trying to adapt from a full-back to wing-back, but his attacking flare often lets him down, which is key to being a successful wing-back under Conte. In the victory on the weekend, Royal made three tackles and four clearances.
Just 50% (three) of his crosses were accurate and he didn't have any shots on goal. Ryan Sessegnon played on the other flank and worked hard at both ends of the field, having six shots at goal.
Royal has shown glimpses of improvement and on Saturday played a key role in the opening goal, despite his crossing and final balls often letting him down. But surely there are some questions over why Doherty isn't being given a chance.
Is it because he isn't match fit yet and Conte wants to wait for when he is? Is he saving the Irishman for the Champions League and therefore we will see him play on Wednesday? Has the Spurs boss been very impressed with Royal and perhaps doesn't feel Doherty is doing enough to replace him?
These are all questions that Conte didn't quite answer when asked about the defender in his recent press conference. Therefore it is a waiting game to see if Doherty is given a chance soon, but with the amount of games to come for Spurs, rotation is likely to need to happen sooner rather than later.
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