Conte's Tottenham undroppable
Richarlison may have been Tottenham's hero against Marseille in the Champions League on Wednesday but the game also highlighted the importance of another Spurs man. Extremely frustrating for the Lilywhites in the first half with Marseille control proceedings and then failing to test former Spurs loanee Pau Lopez in goal when they did create opportunities, they were given a helping hand minutes after the restart.
Chancel Mbemba's red card for hauling Son Heung-min down when last man did give the hosts a numerical advantage but still they struggled to find the breakthrough. However, they looked better once Dejan Kulusevski was introduced in place of Emerson Royal on the hour mark as the Swede took the game to the Ligue 1 side.
Immediately breezing past his man and forcing his way into the box, the 22-year-old's low cross was unfortunately snuffed out with a number of white shirts in the box. Making things happen and having a wicked delivery on him, it appeared that Kulusevski's creativity would help Tottenham just about get over the line.
READ MORE: What Richarlison did that led to Tottenham Champions League pre-match chat with Antonio Conte
Thankfully Richarlison was the man for the big occasion once again as he was in the right place to head home Ivan Perisic's inswinging cross, before then adding a second five minutes later with an emphatic header after Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg had picked him out. Having his main four attackers on the pitch in the closing stages at Chelsea one month ago, Antonio Conte did the same against Marseille and it paid off.
Kulusevski has been incredibly unlucky to be named on the bench in the past two games but that is the result of strengthening in attack and having top quality options to pick from. He did indicate why he should be in the team when he did come on, giving the Spurs head coach a pivotal decision to make ahead of Saturday's mouth-watering clash away at Man City.
Tottenham's struggles in the first hour of the contest did highlight the need to have Kulusevski in the team. The front three of Harry Kane, Son and Richarlison is extremely eye-catching but there is perhaps a lack of creativity there, thus really making Kulusevski a Tottenham undroppable.
It cannot all be on Kane's shoulders to both score and assist for Tottenham, with Kulusevski proving last season that he can more than do both after contributing five goals and eight assists in 20 appearances. The Sweden international makes Tottenham' tick and now it is about finding the right solution that benefits the team going forward.
The Son question
That in turn raises a question about Son after another frustrating outing for the South Korean forward. Looking sharp against Fulham at the weekend but just lacking the goal he desperately craves, it was a different story for the 30-year-old in the Marseille game.
Linking up well with Richarlison and Kane in the first half as he played the latter in for a chance just prior to half-time, Son then had a key role to play in Mbemba's dismissal as he nudged the ball ahead of the ex-Newcastle United man to draw the foul after Kane had played him through.
Other than that, Son was fairly quiet on the whole with nothing going his way once again. One shot midway through the second half summed up his performance as he dragged an effort well wide from the edge of the box and a smattering of boos could even be heard as a result inside Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Previously looking like it was a choice between Kulusevski or Richarlison to partner Kane and Son in attack, three players are now fighting it out for two positions in the team and Son is the one of the trio struggling for form at present. With question marks over his selection already this season after failing to score, they will once again be there ahead of Saturday's trip to the Etihad Stadium following his display against Marseille.
Son does look like he could do with a breather but it's not a simple call to make for Conte given the attacker's excellent record against Man City. So often a pivotal figure when Spurs go head-to-head with Pep Guardiola's side, he has six goals in his last eight games against them and his pace is key when trying to exploit City's high line.
His current form may be way off what he is capable of but Man City will not be looking forward to facing him at all despite his goal struggles this term. Whether he is in the starting XI or on the bench on Saturday evening, you wouldn't bet against the player having a massive say against the Premier League title favourites.
Why Tottenham's Champions League group was never going to be straightforward
All at Tottenham will have been rather content with their Champions League Group D opponents when the group stage draw was made two weeks ago. Avoiding one of the big guns from Pot 1 and also not facing the likes of Inter Milan or Napoli from Pot 3, it seemed to be the perfect group for Spurs to progress from on their return to Europe's premier competition.
While of course it would have been nice to test themselves against one of Europe's best given the glitz and the glamour of the competition having missed out on it in the previous two campaigns, clubs very much want a draw that can see them progress first and foremost. Group D was still going to be a big challenge and not straightforward at all for Conte's Spurs to advance to the knockout phase of the competition, however.
That was clear to see on Wednesday evening in N17 as Marseille, the strongest team from Pot 4, made life incredibly difficult for them and dominated the ball for long periods of the game. Having 18 shots on goal across the 90 minutes, Spurs only managed to get two of their attempts on target as Lopez remained largely untroubled between the sticks.
Thankfully the two on target resulted in goals as Richarlison struck a fine double on his Champions League debut. Prior to his first of the evening, the longer the contest went on it appeared that Spurs would not be able to make the crucial breakthrough and they would go without maximum points in their first home game.
Spurs are going to have to get used to this in the Champions League as Eintracht Frankfurt and Sporting CP will also be tough nuts to crack, most notably when they face their three group opponents away from home. Tottenham's first European away day of the campaign comes next Tuesday at Sporting, who started off Group D with a 3-0 win in Frankfurt with former Spurs youngster Marcus Edwards grabbing the first of the evening.
On paper looking like a favourable group, Wednesday evening highlighted that Conte's team really are going to have to dig deep to come out on top come the start of November.
Character clear to see again
The character of Conte's Tottenham team has been there for all to see this season. That was very much the case once again against Marseille.
Far from their best at times over the opening month of the season, the Lilywhites still remain undefeated having managed to grind out the points when not at the top of their game. Rescuing a point at Chelsea in their second league fixture with the Blues dominating and having chance after chance to put the game out of sight, the following week Spurs found a way past Wolves courtesy of Kane's second-half header.
It is the sign of a good team when they win games when not at their best, but all at Tottenham would rather they don't do things the hard way and instead manage to triumph with 90-minute performances. Character is one thing the team are going to need this weekend when they take on Man City at the Etihad Stadium.
They showed that key trait in abundance back in February as they left Manchester with all three points following an incredible 3-2 win. Guardiola's side will be out for revenge and Spurs now have the small matter of trying to keep Erling Haaland quiet after his free-scoring start to life with the Premier League champions.
Things are going to click for Tottenham at some point and the wins and performances will be there when everything comes together. Until that moment arrives, the team's character is going to be vitally important to the Lilywhites getting over the line when not at their best.
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