In my mind, this summer’s transfers include two players one can look at and obviously identify as ‘Conte’ picks. One is Ivan Perišić, and the other is Clement Lenglet.
Let’s look at the Fulham performance briefly, but acknowledge that the Frenchman usually delivers this level of consistency as a matter of course.



You get the picture, and what defensive actions the Frenchman was called to participate in, he dealt with those equally well.
It was an unexceptional performance, but too frequently Tottenham’s backline has more dark turns than a Tales Of The Unexpected episode. Even when our opponents aren’t up to that much.
Antonio Conte is an extremely pragmatic coach and understands that defensively his sides must be on point. This is why Sergio Reguilon is no longer on the premises, and why Emerson Royal who isn’t a disaster defensively, has Cristian Romero next to him.
Which, if we then consider the players that Conte hasn’t afforded many meaningful minutes, it suggests an unwelcome conclusion. Papa Mata Sarr and Bryan Gil are taking the squad place of proven players Antonio will need competing on 3 or 4 fronts this season.
Add to this, all the players that Daniel Levy has been forced to sweep under the carpet with back-door loans. The absences’ of Tanguy Ndombele, Reguilon, Winks, Lo Celso and Joe Rodon are all numbers in the Spurs gaffer’s minus column.
Between the inability to clear the past and a future which appears dogged by continued interference, it is little wonder that Conte has increased the number of windows he thinks he needs in order to get Tottenham where he wants them.
If that weren’t tragic enough, by the time that goal is achieved, it is unlikely that either Lenglet or Perišić will be at the club.
What was that great Deep Purple song? Oh, yeah, Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming…
Long and short of it is that Klopp (October) and Conte (November) came in with part of a season gone.
Klopp’s first THREE transfer windows only got him Wijnaldum and Mane for any sort of dough. He got Matip on a free. The rest were cheaper deals with sketchy records, Karius the best pick.
These windows gave him finishes of 8th and 4th (worth noting also 4th the year after)
Conte has had TWO windows, and this has got him established starters Bentancur and, Kulusevski. Also PL proven Bissouma and Richarlison. In addition to this we have signed him Perisic. This is better with a window to spare. Not even mentioning the other four players we got him this Summer, some for now, some for the future.
We have already finished 4th, and have a window to come.
34m and 23m.
Mane from Saints, pretty similar to the Richarlison buy really – profile, selling club, goal record etc.
Wijnaldum cost less than Sissoko, who we bought the same Summer.
Liverpool are run like Spurs, albeit with a bigger revenue and budget.
I’m not sure that Liverpool only paid decent money for those players, I think at the time they were quite big fees. We paid 17.5m for Bentancur, 26m for Bissouma, 36m fee for Kulusevski if we make it permanent and 52m for Richarlison.
Liverpool paid 37.8m for Mane and 27m for JW, over six years ago and we’ve all seen transfer values rocket in the last few years. So on present day values we are probably it’s probably the equivalent of about 75m for Mane and 55m for JW. So on that basis, Liverpool were lying out far more on their biggest transfers than we are now, that’s before we even get onto wages…
Only Chelsea play with a back 3 and they’d have Davies in the squad.
All of those clubs have defenders in their first 22 I would not have. Neither of City’s reserve fullbacks or Ake. At Liverpool there is Tsimikas or the young Scottish lad they bought, plus Gomez. Chelsea don’t even have enough defenders to dismiss. Arsenal take your pick, ditto United
When Klopp took over in October he finished 8th.
Then 4th.
Then 4th again.
It took Klopp until his 4th season (3rd full season) to challenge City. This is Conte’s 2nd season (1st full season).
Fenway are a terrible example to make a point, they run Liverpool pretty much as ENIC run Spurs. It is just they have more revenue.
Yeah, you were only 2yrs out.
I included Mane if you read it. Is JW supposed to be Wijnaldum? I included him too.
They signed Firmino before he arrived.
None of these were ‘marquee’ signings at the time, any more than Bissouma, Richarlison, Bentancur or Kulusevski are.
Ok, I stand corrected. However in his second season he also signed Mané and JW, you have omitted his first two biggest signings. Firmino also came in during his first season, which I don’t believe was a full season. I might have been off with timings but you’ve left out the four big signings that happened within his first 9 months in charge. I take it to help strengthen your point…
It certainly feels like that. Fenway ‘Sports’ being the operative word. People who know how to operate properly in the elite sports arena. Whereas, we are run by property developers, who use other people’s money and rack up borrowing…
That is simply not true.
Klopp joined in October 2015 – they did not buy VVD until January 2018, and Allison was July 2018.
That first January Klopp got a bargain Grujic in, and Caulker on a loan. They finished 8th.
Next season he got Mane and Wijnaldum for decent dough, Karius and Klavan for cheap, then a couple of free transfers in Matip and Manninger.
They got to the Europa final in his first season.
His first three league finishes were:
8th
4th
4th
If we swapped ENIC for Fenway Sports I guarantee we’d be lifting trophies nearly every year.
In a back three you should be able to afford a ball playing defender to come out into midfield but the other defenders need to be competent enough to allow that and not get their pants pulled down. I wouldn’t blame Davies or Lenglet for getting forward when we have the ball, it’s part of the system. You need good players around them.
Liverpool brought in Virgil and Allison within about 6 months of Klopp’s arrival for huge money which addressed key problem areas in the side. Our key problem areas are right wingback, midfield and defence. In comparison Conte gets a loanee defender, Bissouma and Spence to ‘solve’ these issues. Klopp got to the the Champions League final in his first season, but won it the following one and also ran City to the wire in the league with these signings (and others) in a new look side. Their transformation happened fairly quickly over two or three windows, we’ve already had two under Conte and we’ve improved some depth in some areas but the level of intent from Liverpool to improve that team is night and day, compared to what we’ve been doing since Conte arrived. We’ve done enough to hopefully consolidate top 4 with Conte with the amount of football we’ll be playing. No huge strides like Klopp was afforded…
23 years of patch-up and make do…
When Conte took over he talked about the gap. He used Klopp as an example and said he would also need four years to do the same with us. He mentioned time and patience repeatedly..
Now he hasn’t even been in charge for a year yet.. And now hes saying he needs 2 or 3 windows.. We’re on course, and Conte has shortened his original prediction.
At 30 years of age no one.
We probably wouldn’t buy Azpilicueta or Alonso from Chelsea, same sort of thing.
Lenglet is a better footballer than Davies, but he takes risks in his play. Like most ball playing CB when it works it is great, when it doesn’t you’re crucifying him.
Lenglet is by far a better footballer. With his more recent Ch Lg experience for Barcelona I would pick him v Marseille.
none
I’d say is more of a 6 and sometimes worthy of a 7
I don’t know Levy personally. Only what I read and saw in the Amazon piece. But I imagine you’re right. The results (or lack of) certainly speak volumes.
It’s exactly why. Levy has to micro manage. He trusts no one. His narcissistic personality makes him a nightmare to deal with and work for.
Don’t tell Dilly that.
To some extent both of your points are valid. Things are getting better but nowhere near good enough.
Let’s use City as an example of how a successful club operates (notwithstanding FFP). They always bring in 2-3 for the future but also back Pep to the hilt, paying top price for the guys he wants even overpaying for Grealish, Phillips and Ake etc who mostly never play.
Conte has said the club (Levy) knows what he wants, so why should it take several windows to deliver? We all know why.
We’ll never go anywhere with Levy in charge.
Regarding Davies v Lenglet, I can see some games where Conte wants experience and they both play, with Davies on the wing and Perisic moved forward where we lack depth or even on the right side. Does Conte trust Sess, Royal, Spence or Doherty in big games? We’ll see…
That’s easy. Because it’s Levy.
Why change now ? he’s had opportunity with his last 2 managers to change and didn’t.
One took us on a magical journey and wasn’t backed. The other was one of the games most successful managers of all time and he wasn’t backed.
I refuse to believe those were the only players Conte wanted. We’re screaming out for creativity in the MF and no one arrived.
The only change was getting business done early. We’re still lumbered with deadwood draining money out of the club. Some on loan others doing F knows what .
Davies solid 7/8 for a couple of seasons ? If we sold Davies tomorrow ,which of the other 4 teams in the top 5 would buy him ?
Being a Welsh international isnt worth much these days…Joe Rodon got ripped apart in 3 games he played which his team lost. Out of the first 4 games they lost the 3 with rodon in the team ,the 4 they won when he never play….
Just rechecked the L1 table.
OM have the best defensive record in the league (yes 1 better than PSG).
Open ’em up boys.
For some reason Davies hasn’t started this season as strong as he finished last so I expect Lenglet to shade him in appearances now.
I recall Davies explaining our really poor form in the Conference last season as mental (that team played like the B Team) so it will be interesting to see who starts against OM especially bearing in mind the next game after that.
Should be a great test for us I think OM have a similar record to us 5W/1D and I see they have Sanchez and (another) Suarez scoring goals.
However and this is just my thoughts…..I feel they havent played any of the top5 yet so shouldnt be too difficult a test for us as long as Romero doesnt get sent off for kicking Sanchez.
Spence was a club buy – we know because Conte told us – if any of the others were also club buys, why not say so? I am not suggesting Conte got his preferred choices but Perisic, Bissouma and Richarlison were done quite early, so you’d imagine they were high on his list for their respective positions. Why can’t people accept that maybe, just maybe, things are changing and Levy is allowing others to be more involved in comings and goings?
Early days for decisions on Lenglet , the performances of Davies this last year have been entirely dependable . We know he is not a ‘star’ in the truest sense but seems so much appreciated by others [ including Welsh National team] , his team-mates included.
He has contributed on that left side whilst the chaos and turmoil of full backs , half backs , wing backs and wingers has gone on all around him . His stoicism , his loyalty , his commitment unquestioned .
On a roster of Spurs legends I would not expect him to figure very highly , but I think he’s got Lillywhite coursing through his veins and is not someone to throw out with the bathwater . He sticks to the task he is given and has earnt his place within the squad .
Wish one or two more could be as diligent . . . . . .
Davies possibly has more ‘fight’ in him – all will become clear after watching a few more Lenglet performances. Davies has been a solid 7-8 out of 10 performer for a couple of seasons now though – surprisingly it’s Davies and Dier who seem to have refined their games under Conte where others have still come up short (Doherty, Sanchez, Reggie, etc etc).
He’s another squad improvement, I imagine we’ll have a good chance of signing him permanently as Barca still seem to think they’re as rich as Croesus despite all conflicting evidence and will no doubt just sign another defender.
The World Cup window up next should provide ample opportunity to go shopping again – so who’s in the last chance saloon for Spurs?
Doherty, Royal, Sessegnon, Gil, Sanchez and Tanganga, plus we know Moura is off pretty soon too most likely. So one more forward (maybe a ‘creative’ sort of forward?) and a right back would be the most likely additions.
Levy… he’s that wasp that just won’t F off when you’re having a picnic. He’s that dripping tap at 3am that you can’t be arsed to get out of bed a turn off but lie awake listening to until the alarm goes off.
How anyone can look at this window and say these are all Conte’s pics. Or Levy has finally backed his man must have mental
health issues or received a bang to the head.
Yes, we’re performing better than usual, or rather getting results. But then so are Brighton. My god, Woolwich even top the table. This is the crazy world of the PL. Former champions Leicester are rock bottom.
The boy Lenglet and Charli did enough on Sat to warrant being picked on Weds. we’ve got City coming up and they look beatable. We need consistency now and a good push in both leagues. Change should only happen in the coming weeks because of injury imo.
Pleasantly surprised by his inclusion and his performance ..though I suspect Davies will be back for Marseille..Lenglet has the better distribution.