Conte got what he wanted
Antonio Conte wanted teams to worry about facing Tottenham Hotspur. He wanted a stronger Spurs and a bench that other sides looked at and feared the changes that the Italian could make at any point to an equally strong starting line-up.
Ralph Hasenhuttl's downbeat words of admiration for the victors at the final whistle showed that Conte has already begun to get what he wants following a 4-1 win that in truth could have been even heavier for the visitors from the south coast.
"It felt a little bit like the opponent switched into the next gear and we cannot follow after the first 25 minutes," said the Southampton boss. "This was frustrating to see how big the gap is between the two teams.
"After the first goal we had the feeling they were absolutely in the game and then they smashed us with their crosses and we couldn't defend in the way we wanted to. This was definitely not the way we wanted to see it. We had a good start. We were brave, we tried to play forward, we had some good moments and scored a good goal. Everything was going in our direction but then it felt the opponents switched into the next gear and it became comfortable [for them]."
READ MORE: Every word Antonio Conte said on Sessegnon, Perisic and why he didn't start new Spurs signings
When asked about Tottenham, he added: "Yeah, strong side. They are playing for the Champions League and for titles. You can see they have strength throughout the team and still players like Richarlison who has not played. There is quality everywhere.
"We could feel all the times the quality. We have some issues in the one vs one defending. We had all our problems with this quality they have up front. You have to be clear we play against maybe the best strikers in the world and if you have moments where you have to defend one vs one, it is tough and this is nothing surprising for me."
Spurs started the game brightly, with plenty of energy and intensity and pressing in packs as Conte demands, so it was somewhat against the run of play when James Ward-Prowse bounced a shot into the ground and past Hugo Lloris 12 minutes in.
Tottenham were not deflated though and in front of 61,732 fans - the second highest attendance since the stadium opened and behind only last season's north London derby - they pushed forward again and again after their first 3pm Saturday kick off in 973 days.
In Son Heung-min, Harry Kane and Dejan Kulusevski, Tottenham have one of Europe's best attacking tridents and all three are as capable of creating goals as they are of scoring them, which means no defence can ever rest easy. This was a 4-1 victory that didn't even require Son or Kane to score.
Allied with the wing-backs and Conte's demand that they form a front five when Tottenham are attacking, you have a formidable front line when it all clicks and this was one of those days. In the end the scoreline flattered Southampton with the number of shots their new goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu also saved either side of the break.
"It was a really good start for us," said Conte. "It was really important to have this reaction after 15-20 minutes we were 1-0 down, despite starting well, with great personality and good possession to create many situations to score, but then to stay 1-0 down was really important to see the reaction of my team.
"The reaction was really good because we kept calm, we continued to play in the way that we know. To believe in what we tried before in this week before playing Southampton. We won three important points but the most important thing was the way we got three points, with really good football, with the ball, without the ball, with important pressure, also the way we decided to win the ball after we lost it was another important aspect.
"We are working to implement football knowledge over the last season. For sure today we have seen this team has seven months of work on its back. I always say this. This season, we are starting with seven months of work and for me it’s very important because I can go another step, in another situation, to implement football knowledge and try to be stronger."
Ryan Sessegnon accepts his Destiny Udogie challenge with Ivan Perisic's help
The relief on Ryan Sessegnon's face said it all. Moments earlier he had held his head in his hands, knowing he had failed to attack a cross from Rodrigo Bentancur when the chance was there to be seized.
When he saw Kulusevski cut inside minutes later he made absolutely sure he burst into the box and flung himself at the oncoming cross, powering it past Southampton goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu and into the net. Sessegnon celebrated with a leap and a roar, knowing he had spared himself from Conte's wrath.
"If I hadn’t scored that I he would have killed me to be honest!" the 22-year-old admitted to Sky Sports afterwards. "There was a moment a couple of minutes earlier when I arrived too late and I knew I couldn't arrive too late the next time Dejan did it."
Conte had noticed and he only half-jokingly said that he and his coaches had been raging at Sessegnon not committing to the first chance.
"If you remember maybe five minutes before there was a cross and he was behind his opponent. On the bench we were really upset with him because he has to attack the second post and find the right position," said the Spurs boss.
"After three minutes then he scored and we were pleased and celebrated a lot because five minutes before he wasn't in the same place to score. Today he scored another goal. He was always in our offensive position. It was good. I'm happy for him because he has great potential but has to show this potential."
It was a really positive performance from Sessegnon and that one moment aside, he did constantly push forward. Other than his goal, he sent a calm finish into the net seconds after the break, only to be flagged offside, and then burst on to another Kulusevski pass only to be denied by a last-gasp block from Kyle Walker-Peters.
Sessegnon looked like a man who knows he must perform now and realise that potential, not least because of the competition building around him.
The Spurs head coach is a big fan of the young wide man, but the arrival of another Conte favourite in Ivan Perisic is a double-edged sword for Sessegnon.
On one hand the 33-year-old Croatian has been working closely with him, giving him pointers and tips on how to meet the demands of a world-renowned manager who wants his ultra-fit wing-backs to play like auxiliary strikers in one moment and as defenders in the next.
On the other hand, when Perisic is fully fit he is one of the best in the position and will be looking to get plenty of minutes himself. The experienced newcomer has already made an impression within the club with those inside saying he has an intense personality, similar to Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, with a drive to everything he does on the pitch and off of it. That's what has brought trophies galore to his CV.
Then there is the future in the shape of 19-year-old Destiny Udogie. football.london understands that Spurs are confident of tying up a deal in the coming days worth around £22m, including add-ons, for the teenage Udinese wing-back and the Italy U21 international will be loaned back to the Serie A club for this season.
It's no coincidence that the top two full-backs or wing-backs for goal contributions in Serie A last season were Perisic and Udogie and soon both will be Tottenham players.
Spurs always operate in two ways during transfer windows. One is their plan for the now and what they need in certain positions and the other is looking at opportunities that suddenly arise to purchase potential stars of the future that cannot be missed. Udogie is seen as one of those signings, as Pape Matar Sarr was last year, players who it makes sense to secure now because they are considered to be among the brightest young talents in their league and potential Premier League stars.
They are a calculated risk because of the relatively lower prices involved in snapping them up earlier in their development. Sometimes it works handsomely as it did in the early years with Dele Alli and sometimes it doesn't. Last year's move for Bryan Gil, one of Spain's top young stars, has not thus far been a success and in Conte's eyes it's because the club did not research enough whether the little winger could adapt to the physical side of the Premier League.
With the 6ft 1ins Udogie, Fabio Paratici and Conte believe he will be ready for the English game next summer. The Verona-born wing-back scored five goals and laid on three assists from the left for Udinese last season and is expected to soon make his senior international debut for Roberto Mancini's Italy team.
Udogie has been attracting the interest of plenty of the top clubs across England and Italy, but Spurs' willingness to allow the player to remain in Udinese for another season and his willingness to work with Conte have pushed them to the front of the queue and he will become the club's seventh signing so far of a remarkable summer transfer window.
Udogie will arrive next summer when Perisic will be 34 and Sessegnon 23, having spent another season developing in the Premier League. The young Italian will be seen by some as a post-Perisic signing but the Croatian's fitness levels and ability to play further up the pitch mean you can't rule out him still being at a high level in the second year of his two-year deal at Spurs.
For Sessegnon it is simply more of a push to ensure he gives his all this season and steers clear of the hamstring woes of the past. Conte believes that in the younger and older left wing-backs, he has a great combination.
"I'm really pleased for Sess because we are working very well with him, especially on the physical aspect because in the past this player had many injuries and after one or two months, then again injury, muscular problems," he told football.london.
"He's working well and we are giving him stability in the physical aspect. I think it’s very important that we signed a player like Ivan Perisic because he (Sessegnon) can see the way to learn something about Ivan. We are talking about a very important player in Ivan, a top player.
"Sometimes it’s good to bring into your team players even if they are a bit over-age. If they are a good player with experience, they can bring this experience to improve young players in your squad. I think Sessegnon is doing this. I was really pleased because today he played a good game. Emerson played a good game. Now we have to continue in this way."
Kulusevski's enormous promise and Emerson's statement
Tottenham's right-hand side also had an eye-catching opening match of the season with Dejan Kulusevski and Emerson Royal making their own statements.
It's easy to forget that Kulusevski only turned 22 just three and a half months ago. The Sweden international looks like he's been playing in the Premier League for years and when Conte talks about the type of signing he likes to make, he is perfectly describing Kulusevski.
"The characteristics are to play intense football and to play this type of modern football, the player has to have quality, it is normal he has quality but at the same time he has to be strong physically, a good engine, stamina because this league is very, very difficult," said the Spurs head coach on Saturday of his demands for new signings.
"It is totally different to other leagues and we need players with this characteristic to have quality but to be strong physically and to run, to run a lot. To bring intensity during a game because I like to press but you need to have a player strong to do high pressure and this type of football."
Kulusevski has it all. He's got all of the above with his size and strength, but he's also got wonderful technique and that bit of magic and flair about his play. He's a creative force who believes that hard work is central to everything he does.
Without a hint of sarcasm, the Swede told football.london last week in Israel of Conte's gruelling training sessions: "It’s amazing, it's really amazing to have pain everywhere. I think it’s a fantastic thing to have you know? I love to work hard because everything in life comes from working hard. It’s a little bit difficult, of course, nothing is easy, but this is what you have to do to become a champion."
When asked what his best position is, he added: "It’s a very good question, I’ve been thinking about this all my whole life. I always thought of me being a No 10, I still think I am, but my best results as a football player have always come being a right winger, so I don’t know!
"In the future, we will see where I’ll be. Yeah I can probably play wing-back too. It’s football, you want to help a good team, you want to play, enjoy, work hard and have fun."
On paper there's a predictability at times to Kulusevski's play as he prefers to cut inside on to his left-foot, but it's testament to the timing of his movements and that remarkable technique that it's so difficult to stop. On top of that, if an opponent does decide to close down that avenue, he can also go the other way. Just because he prefers one move, it does not mean he can't perform another and use his right foot just as well.
There's a strong belief around the club that Kulusevski could become one of the world's best and that's why his loan deal will be made permanent next summer. Both Conte and Paratici are huge fans, the former having tried to sign him at Inter and the latter bringing him into his clubs twice.
Kulusevski now has 15 goal involvements in his first 19 Premier League games - nine assists and six goals. Since he arrived on English shores, only Son and Kane have been involved in more goals than him in the competition and any fears of a difficult second season as teams know more about him were blown away against Southampton.
He curled in a perfect cross for Sessegnon to score Spurs' equaliser and then cut inside to curl home a trademark shot in the second half, as well as creating plenty of opportunities for others.
Kulusevski's strength and confidence mean you will often see him start a run from in or around his own box and shrug off the challenges effortlessly as he weaves in between people. That ability to start counter-attacks and take opponents out of the game in the Spurs half builds the foundation to get the team on the break - one of Tottenham's biggest strengths.
All the attention is on Son and Kane but Kulusevski's rise is happening quickly and then you've got Richarlison to add to that mix.
"He could have a brilliant future in front of us," Conte said of Kulusevski after the match to the BBC. "When I read his interview he said that he wants to become one of the best players in his role, I think this ambition is good if he matches this ambition with the humility, to be humble and continue to work and to continue to improve yourself."
Behind Kulusevski, Emerson Royal had a game of two halves but he showed that it cannot automatically be assumed that he will be the right wing-back fall guy this summer.
Conte's words to football.london on both Thursday in his press conference and in Israel last week suggested that Matt Doherty, or 'Matthew' as the Italian calls him, will be his first choice right wing-back when he regains full fitness after a bad knee injury that was naturally still causing him some pain this summer.
With Djed Spence needing time to learn the Conte way and get himself into the super-fit shape required by all Spurs wing-backs, that left Emerson with the chance to start the season and send the boss a message.
The Brazilian's skill-set is well known. He's a good solid full-back, better defensively than he is attacking and he is one of the fittest players at the club. What he lacks in attacking decision-making, he mostly makes up for with his enthusiasm in getting forward in the first place.
In the first half, it was actually his defending that came into question first as he went to ground too early to allow Moussa Djenepo to breeze past him to deliver a cross for Ward-Prowse to score. When he got forward, Emerson struggled with his delivery until a prodded pass to Kane set up a chance late in the first half.
By that point Sessegnon's goal and Eric Dier's deft flicked header from Son's curling low cross - the defender's first goal since 2019 - had turned the game around, but Emerson was arguably the most transformed player of the second half for the hosts.
Roaring was the theme. He roared forward at every opportunity, roared at Djenepo after defending well with a sliding challenge to stop the Saints man from providing another assist and then Conte roared at him during a big hug when the Brazilian came off, a moment that left both men laughing.
For Emerson delivered as a wing-back. His enthusiasm to get forward launched Spurs on plenty of counter-attacks. It was from one around the hour mark when he started the move and then Son found him in the box and although his low cross was to nobody in particular, the hapless Mohammed Salisu somehow sliced it into his own net under no pressure, following up his red card against Tottenham last season.
The bizarre rule that you can't get an assist for an own goal, despite providing the pass that led to the goal, robbed Emerson of that on his record, but he made up for it with a run to the byline and ball back to Kulusevski to curl home Spurs' fourth goal of the afternoon.
Emerson will likely keep his place against Chelsea next week and he's got a great chance to stake his claim for another run on the right and his place at the club.
It's almost like Conte knows what he's doing
Social media is rarely the best barometer of logical thought. It can often be a place of overreaction and frequently shifting emotions.
Rarely has that been more evident for Spurs than in recent days. Those in football pay little attention to friendly results but if you believed some of the comments across Twitter and Facebook following the final pre-season match against Roma last weekend then all of the excitement about the coming season was gone, the six new signings were all a waste of money and the team could not create a thing without signing a number 10.
Add to that the suggestion ahead of Saturday's match that none of the six new signings were going to be in the starting line-up against Southampton and it was meltdown time. Doom was about to befall Tottenham Hotspur. They were the same old team. Nothing ever changes at Spurs. We're doomed.
Only not much of that really made sense. All of the six new signings were at various stages of fitness after injuries or joining later in pre-season and one in Richarlison was suspended. They were unlikely to be in contention to start in the first match and, on top of that, what's so bad about starting with the team that finished fourth last season? They're not too shabby you know.
Friendlies are essentially extended training sessions and Conte specifically picked Spurs' summer opponents for their fitness value, to produce matches with more intensity to them than the usual summer fare.
Many lauded Arsenal's goal-laden pre-season results only to watch them on Friday night almost coming unstuck against a Crystal Palace side, who with a more clinical striker would have won at Selhurst Park.
The Gunners had just two shots on target from their 10 efforts, the same as the hosts, and had only 43 per cent of the possession. Mikel Arteta's side still won 2-0 and they will improve but the point is that pre-season results mean absolutely nothing in relation to actually playing a Premier League match.
Spurs, in the wake of the overreaction to the muted showing against Roma, fired 18 shots at Southampton's goal, put eight on target and four in the net, with 58 per cent of the possession. That's ignoring the fact that the Italian rarely plays with a number 10 because much of his team's chance creation comes from the wings - either from wingers or wing-backs.
Conte is looking to change the mindset not only inside Spurs but also among the fanbase. He wants everyone to see a squad with multiple options of similar quality to use in any given scenario, not a set starting XI that must start every game. The former is how big clubs operate, the latter is how Spurs have.
The huge sea change on Saturday was seen on the bench. Last season ended with often four or five academy youngsters among the nine substitutes at times. On this occasion, so packed was Conte's squad with quality that he had to leave seven senior players out of his matchday squad, not including the injured Oliver Skipp.
All of the new boys that came on contributed in the latter stages of the game. Clement Lenglet played a superb through ball to Son with that much-vaunted left-foot, Yves Bissouma fizzed a shot just wide from distance after picking up an early yellow card and Perisic worked hard down the left after his arrival.
The real proof that social media does not reflect reality was found inside the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The noise and anticipation was there for all to hear and see from long before the final whistle, starting with the excited chatter on the trains coming into N17.
Inside the bowl of the ground it was constant noise, singing and support and an understanding that a manager who has won five top flight league titles and plenty of cups might just know what he's doing.
Conte, who was flying straight off after the match with his wife Elisabetta and daughter Vittoria, to spend the rest of the weekend together back in Italy, was bemused when it was mentioned that some of the fans were surprised that he had not started any of his new recruits.
"Me, I am not surprised because I think that I use common sense because in this moment we are starting the new season and the old players reach a big achievement last season to get a place in Champions League," he said.
"In the last 10 games I think we played really well and we had fantastic results. My message was very clear that I trust a lot in the old players and in this moment they are more reliable than the new players because they need to continue to work with us and continue to implement football knowledge.
"With the old players, I am in a step forward. For this reason I prefer to count on the start on the older players but I think it was right after this game and the final result. At the same time I really enjoy and I am really happy because we have new signings that are going into our process and for sure they will help us to improve, but at the same time they have to know they have to fight and they have to give me the possibility to make rotations.
"Now we are going to play one game a week but in September we start to play every three days and for sure we need to have rotation but for a club like Tottenham it is very important not to drop the level, don't drop the quality when you make rotation. That was the first target and I was very clear with the club and the club was totally in agreement with me."
Those seven months for the Italian to work with the bulk of his squad have been key and the bonus of already achieving Champions League football was the cherry on top of the cake.
The irony is that for those Spurs fans who bemoaned that nothing had changed, they were in fact watching a team that has been forged in the fire of Conte, including one of his infamous pre-seasons, and all of that gives them an advantage over many of their rivals, with the added bonus of those many new recruits now there to supplement their quality.
"We have to go step by step. It’s very important to have seven months of work at our back, for me, for the players with me. It will be very important because I’m not starting from zero," said the Spurs boss.
"Honestly in this moment I have a big difficulty to answer what is our realistic target. We have to try to be stronger than the past and we are working for this. Then we go game by game.
"Next week we have a game like Chelsea and with Chelsea last season I have seen a lot of difference. A different level. We played three games in 12 days and we lost three games and didn’t score. They showed in these three games that they were much better than us. Realistically we have to wait before making judgement for this season."
When he was asked whether another top four finish would be satisfactory for a man with such lofty ambitions, he laughed as he thought of Spurs chairman Daniel Levy.
"But to finish top four in England is always a success. If you speak with the owner (laughs) he’s ready to sign every season to finish top four, especially in England because it means that with six top teams in England, if you finish top four last season then United and Arsenal missed finishing in the Champions League," he said.
"You know Liverpool, City, Chelsea, maybe if a disaster doesn't happen they stay there. So you fight. Then you know also the strength of United, but you have seen what Arsenal are doing with Arteta in these many years to improve the team.
"It's not easy but I am a person who has ambition and I want to transfer the right ambition to my players with no presumption and arrogance. I only know one way to work, to continue to improve. I think that if we continue to do this we are stronger than last season."
Conte said in the days ahead of the game that he was as excited about Tottenham Hotspur's coming season as the fans were and that while he is a realist, he is also a dreamer. After this positive start to the season, those supporters might just be joining him. Conte's Spurs are a very different beast.
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