Tottenham's new signings are gelling together nicely as Antonio Conte builds his perfect side.
The North Londoners have been heavily tipped to do well this season and have started the in impressive form and are yet to lose in the league, currently occupying third spot. Now, Conte is also starting to see his new additions take centre-stage in his side, with Richarlison impressing in recent weeks.
Despite not starting until the 2-1 victory against Fulham on Saturday, the Brazilian has already taken to life in a white shirt well and is proving to be the most effective of the new incomings so far this season.
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Alongside Richarlison, first-team additions Yves Bissouma, Djed Spence, Clement Lenglet and Fraser Forster are yet to have a big impact, though their wider integration into the side has not gone unnoticed. Ryan Sessegnon has built-up a promising relationship with Ivan Perisic and Spence has a good team of experienced wing-backs to help him improve under Conte's watch.
The Italian has already said that this season he wants to focus on improvement and closing the gap, admitting, "We know that in England it is difficult to fight to win but we want to try to be competitive, to try to improve on last season and this is our target.
“If you ask me about City or Liverpool, my answer is we are talking about two of the best clubs in the world that are working with the same coaches for years."
Although the former Inter Milan and Chelsea boss will want more than that this season, if Spurs can take the chance to fully acclimatise the squad with each other, then it will be vast improvement on seasons gone by and there are already promising signs for this as well.
Son Heung-Min, who didn't score against Fulham at the weekend despite his best efforts, cut a frustrated and isolated figure sat on the bench after he was subbed off with six minutes of normal time remaining.
Having hit the woodwork and with the South Korea international yet to score in his first six matches, Son isn't in his best form, and Conte confirmed that his luck in front of goal isn't just an issue in matches: “This is not only for Sonny (in the matches), but also the training sessions," said the Italian.
“We have Fraser (Forster) that sometimes he made a fantastic save to him in the training session and sometimes he is struggling to score but this is a period. I continue to tell you I am not worried because when I see this type of performance from my players, Sonny included, I am not worried. I know they are going to score many goals with these strikers.”
Despite Forster thwarting his teammate, he also came to his rescue on Saturday, moving to comfort his friend on the bench. Son was sat alone at the end of a row on the Spurs bench and Forster, seeing this, moved across to sit next to Son.
Although this is only a minor point, it does show an aspect of the positive relationships between the Tottenham players that has previously been missing to the public eye. More so, with new signings bedding in well with experienced players already at the club, it sets a precedent for Conte and his players to follow for the upcoming campaign.
It comes after a group of underperforming senior players moved on this summer, including Tanguy Ndombele. On the Frenchman, who joined Napoli on loan over the summer, Conte said, "He has the quality [but] he has to understand it is a team and he has to play into the team. It is important to do what the position asks you to do. We are working very hard, he has to work much more than the others.
"He has talent but he has to put it into the team for the team, not for the single player. Every single player has to know what he has to do. If every player just runs around the pitch, it will be a mess."
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