Hey, everyone. I am doing a quick series ahead of the new season where I talk about a Premier League team and where they'd end up. It's not going to be in a specific order, nor is it going to be all the clubs.
If you like the style, let me know so I would do more.
Alright the sooner I get through this, the sooner I could go scream into my pillow.
Tottenham has announced several deals so far ahead of the upcoming season. Most importantly are Richarlison, Ivan Perišić, and Yves Bissouma. Today, I will be talking about Conte's strategic style of thinking and whether it could mean the Spurs could finally win a trophy.
To keep up with teams that are better than his, Conte makes a strategy for all the games up ahead. After that, he aims to have enough weapons to help him win different games.
For example, when Conte became Juventus manager, Juventus didn't have the best team as both Milan teams had relatively better teams, even if slightly. In the 2012-2013 season, there's a glaring number that is worth looking back at: 15 players scored and 10 players assisted.
In the 2013-2014 season, Juventus had 17 different players scoring and 16 players assisted. What this means is that almost every player on the team had given Juventus a point or three at some point during the season.
That became Conte's policy, he applied it in Chelsea and later in Inter Milan. When Inter Milan won the league with Lukaku becoming a goal-scoring machine, he had 16 other players scoring as well and 15 players assisting. That was during a time when Juventus had better quality in its squad. Yet, Inter Milan ended Juventus's domination
The average starting XI that Manchester City and Liverpool have is better than any other team in the league. Spurs, or any other team for that matter, can't field 11 players at any point of the season that are better than Manchester City's and Liverpool's.
Conte thinks about this differently. He doesn't want a starting XI that is better, but rather different players that could make up the difference.
Ivan Perišić scored 8 goals and assisted 7 last season. Richarlison scored 10 and assisted 5. Yves Bissouma was one of the best defensive midfielders last season, he is expected to form a defensive wall in the midfield next to Pierre-Emile Højbjerg.
That's the same thing Conte did with Juventus, Chelsea, and Inter Milan.
Tottenham conceded 40 goals last season. The improvement with Bissouma could bring that total down to 35, or 33. Still isn't the same as Liverpool and Manchester City's 26 conceded goals last season, but closer than before.
Conte doesn't want names, he cares about having the tools to
Reducing the number of goals conceded
Increasing the number of goals scored
It sounds obvious. But, that's the strategy. And with Bissouma and having a stronger defensive midfield, Spurs can be freed more to attack in hopes of scoring. Just like he had Hakimi as an offensive weapon in his last season with Inter Milan.
Spurs scored 69 goals last season compared to Manchester City's 99. The numbers game could suggest Ivan Perišić adding to that tally by 5-6 goals between scoring and assisting, Richarlison could add another 10 between scoring and assisting. The extra freedom for the attack granted by having a stronger defensive midfield could add 5-6 goals as well. That 30 goals difference between Manchester City and Spurs could be turned into 10 goals difference by the end of the upcoming season.
Those are good numbers. I am not saying Spurs could win the league, in fact, I am hoping they don't. But, those numbers could mean Spurs will fight for the title, even if they don't win it in the end.
That's Conte's numbers game, superstars are meaningless if they don't improve the team's numbers. It's all about scoring more goals and conceding less.
In Conte's last season with Inter Milan, everyone had their eyes on Lukaku and his 24 goals, however, Lautaro scored 17, Hakimi and Sanchez scored 7 each. Assists as well with Hakimi, Lukaku, and Lautaro having 10 assists, but the rest also had assisted with Sanchez assisting 7 and Perišić 5. Barella scored 3 and assisted 7, Eriksen scored three.
That's Conte's strategy and it looks like he is implementing it with Tottenham as well. Having more goal-scoring options and strengthening the defensive line. All of that turns into points as Conte sees a league fight as accumulative and team-work based.
That's why I say that Tottenham transfers this season have Conte's fingerprints all over them.
Conte and his strategy could have Tottenham fighting for the title and only miss out late into the season. I see them scoring more and conceding less, and this might actually be the year Tottenham ends up with a title. Maybe not the league, but maybe one of the local cups.
