Antonio Conte will have been making the most of the time he has been gifted during this latest interminable international break, with most of his squad not having been involved in action for their respective countries…
Steven Bergwijn and Harry Kane both scored, and the England captain certainly blew the cobwebs off his recent poor form with a veritable avalanche of goals, and Joe Rodon and Ben Davies featured for Wales.
Cuti Romero managed to injure himself by picking up a hamstring whilst playing for Argentina, and the Premier League injury table has the centre back down as currently being assessed but ruled out with no return date.
Bryan Gil is equally indisposed with a similar ailment, and the last update from the club was on October the 29th, ‘”Let’s see, let’s assess him. He didn’t train, he has something there, but let’s wait and see. It’s not very positive for him.” Which is now beginning to sound increasingly ominous.
Ryan Sessegnon is still marked down as no return date.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg will hopefully be back in action, although there appears to have been a curious period of revisionism on the Dane, amongst some fans, so hopefully, rest will have done Pierre some good.
And Skipp is out through suspension for 5 yellows. I would rather Tanguy starts, but Conte said ‘Winky or Tanguy’ will start.. He said Winks name first which could be telling… Expecting ‘Hobby and Winky’ to be starting.
Both a very good read thanks Urb.
Ah sorry I thought they said Pierre was out injured too.. Davies Reg and Dier have been poor… PEH and Skipp have both been playing on merit. Not sure we need both because of the defence. It will be interesting what Contes first team will become over the next few weeks. Also what formation will he stick with. Dele, Lo celso and Ndom have to up their games immensely to dislodge Pierre or Skipp right now.
So the only relevant absentee is Romero…
Off piste but I meant to point these out a few days ago. Thought they were interesting, thought others might.
.theguardian.com/football/2021/nov/13/joe-lewis-stays-in-the-shadows-as-spurs-seek-a-team-fit-for-conte
.theguardian.com/football/2021/nov/13/glenn-hoddle-spurs-england-arsene-wenger-cardiac-arrest
The reason we need PEH and Skipp in the CM is because the back line has been so poor . Romero has been a positive influence but Reg and Davies have been poor. Royal has been settling in.
I would play NDembele further forward ..and probably as a sub.
These sort of stats are misleading.. Yes Hojberg has won more tackles than anyone else in the league. Also Emerson Royal and Skipp are in the top 15 for most tackles. Now look at all the other players in that list, Norwich, Palace, Newcastle players etc. All teams that have been under the kosh, been hammered, or are in the relegation zone having to defend all the time.
He’s been a bit rubbish I thought in recent games.. If anyone has been carrying us in the middle then it’s been Lucas Moura dropping deep getting the ball and driving forward with it.
Skipp and Ndombele should start in the middle for me… And Joe Rodon has to be starting now Romeros out. He deserves a proper chance and run in the firsts.
Supposedly 3-4 weeks out, and then right into the congested Christmas schedule. Will be interesting to see if Conte does like Nuno and Jose and never plays Rodon either.
This seems to be a result of Skipp getting into the team. Apparently, if there’s room for only one of Skipp or PHE, people are trying to rationalise why it should be Skipp instead of Hojbjerg. In all honesty, Skipp has been bang average for a major part of the season, except perhaps for the last couple of games. I also believe the Hojbjerg has not been up to is best because nuno told him to be a pressing midfielder, but there were no other players backing up his pressing, this left him out of position a large number of time. On another note, his defensive numbers are still very very good, tackles + interceptions only behind Ndidi and Bissouma in terms of midfielders. Also, highest number of tackles in the league.
Could not help yourself. Maybe playing every minute of EPL games and then doing the same for country may have affected a spoke in the wheel.
On the point of PEH. Any player would suffer if he was carrying Winks, Sissoko, LoCelso & Ndombele for the last 2 seasons. He’s also on his 4th manager. PEH is a good ‘un and I’ve no worries about him but he has been carrying our midfield single highhandedly.
Romero plays two games in 4 days and then straight on to 12 hour flight. Then two high pressure high tempo games. Perfect recipe for muscle strains.
Sessegnon really is an enigma. After failing to sign him for a year or two, we blew 25 million pounds on a then 19-year old who can’t stay fit to save his life.
We could use a young dynamic left WB to alternate with Reguilon and challenge him for the spot, but RS doesn’t really seem like one.