Life Beyond Conte's Back Three

[Kid Chameleon]

I'm starting to think about what could be done with the current squad in a post-Conte universe. I'm pretending that I'm the Ryan Mason 2.0 left in charge while the club finds another manager. I'm using the squad as is with exactly the same injury and suspension problems we have now (hence Skipp instead of Bentancur or Bissouma)

The first thing I'm doing is ditching the back three and going back to a good, old-fashioned back four with full-backs that prioritise defence over attack.

Emerson Romero Dier Davies

That should hopefully take care of the two goal head starts we keep giving other teams.

I'm then thinking of a midfield four with Hojbjerg and Skipp with Spence and Perisic on the wings.

Spence PEH Skipp Perisic

Kane and Son up-top

What do you guys think? What are your ideas? Please share and discuss.

 

[Matt1882]

Lol, that defence would get ripped to fucking shreds.
Dire is more rubbish in a 4 than a 3. Davies is a dreadful left back that gets exposed constantly.
Royal is Royal. He's an incredibly average footballer at best.
Romero will be out of there quicker than cat when the vacuum cleaner comes on.

 

[Starks]

Spence - Romero - New CB - Udogie
​

Could be pretty wild next season under a new manager. You'd have two physically strong wing backs who like to get up and down and attack. Perhaps question marks about them defensively but both young enough to coach that aspect into them.

Would need solid press resistant midfielders in front of them though. So the Bissouma we saw from Brighton alongside Bentancur would be perfect.

 

[Richard Arlison]

Formations are overrated. Players make more difference. Spaces need to be filled and covered regardless of the formation and even then teams play at least one formation with the ball and a different one without the ball.

4-4-2, 4-3-2-1, 4-3-3…. Not going to change the outcome if we have 2 of our 3 front players not contributing much without the ball (Kane and Son) and only 1 of them scoring more than 10 goals. Then there is our GK giving goals away for free and we have only 1 CB defending with any confidence.

 

[Airfixx]

I keep seeing people talk about us in terms of having a WB system and that being the 'catalyst' for us play 3 CBs. It isn't. FBs commonly 'bomb on' in the modern game..... Dippers, City, Poch at Spurs regardless of whether we played 4231 or 343. .......Is anyone genuinely suggesting that if we played 4 at the back they'd be happy with 2 'stay at home' FBs?

3 x CBs or 3 x MFs (and the subsequent ramifications in gameplay) is the true crux here..... Will 3 MF eleviate more pressure from our goal than 3 CBs currently does? I'm far from opposed to a back 3 in principal; clearly it can work a treat with the right XI men on the pitch and the right tactics.

(I'm not even opposed to a hard working 3 MFs without a CAM..... Liverpool were lethal without one at their Kloppy-peak with Fabhino/Henderson/Wijnaldum.... None were particularly good, press-resistant dribblers either.)

My reservations - even when Conte-Ball was just fan talk before he even joined - was a rather 1 dimensional focus on width and crossing...... In spirit, it's all somewhat un-inspiring that, for much of the season, our dysfunction has been attributed to Royal not being very good at crossing.

Loved the quick, decisive, efficient, clinical counter-attacks from the 2nd half of last season and not much of that came from the boots and brains of our WBs.

 

[cretinousgoat]

I'm starting to think about what could be done with the current squad in a post-Conte universe. I'm pretending that I'm the Ryan Mason 2.0 left in charge while the club finds another manager. I'm using the squad as is with exactly the same injury and suspension problems we have now (hence Skipp instead of Bentancur or Bissouma)

The first thing I'm doing is ditching the back three and going back to a good, old-fashioned back four with full-backs that prioritise defence over attack.

Emerson Romero Dier Davies

That should hopefully take care of the two goal head starts we keep giving other teams.

I'm then thinking of a midfield four with Hojbjerg and Skipp with Spence and Perisic on the wings.

Spence PEH Skipp Perisic

Kane and Son up-top

What do you guys think? What are your ideas? Please share and discuss.

That side is about as creative as a dead fly. Sorry bro!

The simple answer (or one of the answers) to our current problems is we need better defenders - class ball playing CB(s) please.

 

[tedesco23]

When Jose was here, he employed a back 4 with Hojberg playing in a holding midfield role, often dropping back between the two central defenders to make effectively a back 3. I wonder if this is worth another try, with Skipp also a candidate for this. Two related reasons why it might work better now:

1) Jose was hamstrung with what we can see in retrospect were not good enough midfielders to play in more box-to-box and attacking roles, in players like NDombele, Lo Celso, and the ghost of Dele. Now, with Betancour, Bissouma, and Sarr on board, we have much better options in a midfield 3.

2) We sat *so* deep under Jose--perhaps due partly to coaching, and/or partly due to a midfield that was not adequate for taking hold of the game and giving our defense some breathing space--and there's no reason in principle why we'd have to be in such a defensive crouch this time around.

I know Conte is saying our personnel is not good enough for a 4-3-3, and with Dier, Davies, Lenglet, and Sanchez, I see his point. But I still wonder about this.

 

[dannythomas]

The problems at RB have been highlighted. But whatever his limitations going forward Emerson is a reasonable defender. While on the left side neither Perisic nor Sessegnon can defend. Looking back it was a mistake to loan out Reguilon who is certainly a better defender and should have been kept at least until Udogie haș shown what he can do. Right now we have no possibility to switch to a back 4 . Which is a shame since we could clearly use a creative midfielder in a 4-3-3 or 4-2-1-2-1

 

[meaningless-friendly]

The best Spurs team I have seen in many years was Pochs 3421 team that finished runner up to Chelsea, when some Italian guy managed them.

If we are just using players who are already here, I'd be a little radical and play Bentancur in the middle of the back 3, allowing him to join midfield. He is a player I'd trust to win 1v1 battles in defence and be comfortable enough on the ball. Romero on the right. On the left, it'd be...some shit choice or other, go with Lenglet. Sarr and Bissouma together in midfield. Harry and Kulusevski playing the Eriksen and Dele roles, Richarlison up top.

Forster
Romero Bentancur Lenglet
Spence Bissouma Sarr Perisic
Kulusevski Kane
Richarlison

Udogie in for Perisic, and Perisic used off the bench. Son given a super sub role. Skipp off the bench. I think that team would get a bit more control in games and is a bit better 1v1 across the pitch, but LCB and GK are obvious weak links.

 

[Macch]

Does a change in formation stop the same players from making egregious errors that lead to goals??

 

[Geezergood19]

When Jose was here, he employed a back 4 with Hojberg playing in a holding midfield role, often dropping back between the two central defenders to make effectively a back 3. I wonder if this is worth another try, with Skipp also a candidate for this. Two related reasons why it might work better now:

1) Jose was hamstrung with what we can see in retrospect were not good enough midfielders to play in more box-to-box and attacking roles, in players like NDombele, Lo Celso, and the ghost of Dele. Now, with Betancour, Bissouma, and Sarr on board, we have much better options in a midfield 3.

2) We sat *so* deep under Jose--perhaps due partly to coaching, and/or partly due to a midfield that was not adequate for taking hold of the game and giving our defense some breathing space--and there's no reason in principle why we'd have to be in such a defensive crouch this time around.

I know Conte is saying our personnel is not good enough for a 4-3-3, and with Dier, Davies, Lenglet, and Sanchez, I see his point. But I still wonder about this.

I'd even be half tempted to play PEH at cb right now ahead of Dier he couldnt possibly be any worse than Dier so worth a try in my book and would offer some much needed leadership in that backline

 

[Geezergood19]

For sure we need several new signings but a couple of positions really need urgently addressing GK CB and CAM in the summer however
With the players currently available at the club taking into account injuries i would play a 4-3-3

GK Lloris/ Forster

RB Porro/ Emerson Royal
Lb Davies/ Sessagnon
CB sanchez
CB Romero
MID Sarr
Mid Dier
MID PEH
Att Kulu
Att Kane
Att Son

If we are looking at the start of next season with the players on our books and players we have been heavily linked with my team would be a 4-2-3-1 and would look like this:

Gk Oblak, Raya,Sanchez (Robert not Davinson )
Rb Spence/porro
Lb Udogie/ Reguillon
Cb Romero
Cb Hojberg
DM Bissouma
DM Bentancur
AMR Kulu/ Danjuma
AMC GIL i would also swap kane for Gil in this position depending on opposition
to give Richi a run out at CF hes quality up top on his own for brazil
AML Son/ Perisic
ATT Kane

 

[Stov]

For sure we need several new signings but a couple of positions really need urgently addressing GK CB and CAM in the summer however
With the players currently available at the club taking into account injuries i would play a 4-3-3

GK Lloris/ Forster

RB Porro/ Emerson Royal
Lb Davies/ Sessagnon
CB sanchez
CB Romero
MID Sarr
Mid Dier
MID PEH
Att Kulu
Att Kane
Att Son

If we are looking at the start of next season with the players on our books and players we have been heavily linked with my team would be a 4-2-3-1 and would look like this:

Gk Oblak, Raya,Sanchez (Robert not Davinson )
Rb Spence/porro
Lb Udogie/ Reguillon
Cb Romero
Cb Hojberg
DM Bissouma
DM Bentancur
AMR Kulu/ Danjuma
AMC GIL i would also swap kane for Gil in this position depending on opposition
to give Richi a run out at CF hes quality up top on his own for brazil
AML Son/ Perisic
ATT Kane

Dier in midfield. Craziness. He has lost his mobility and would be disastrous.

 

[Spursidol]

When Jose was here, he employed a back 4 with Hojberg playing in a holding midfield role, often dropping back between the two central defenders to make effectively a back 3. I wonder if this is worth another try, with Skipp also a candidate for this. Two related reasons why it might work better now:

1) Jose was hamstrung with what we can see in retrospect were not good enough midfielders to play in more box-to-box and attacking roles, in players like NDombele, Lo Celso, and the ghost of Dele. Now, with Betancour, Bissouma, and Sarr on board, we have much better options in a midfield 3.

2) We sat *so* deep under Jose--perhaps due partly to coaching, and/or partly due to a midfield that was not adequate for taking hold of the game and giving our defense some breathing space--and there's no reason in principle why we'd have to be in such a defensive crouch this time around.

I know Conte is saying our personnel is not good enough for a 4-3-3, and with Dier, Davies, Lenglet, and Sanchez, I see his point. But I still wonder about this.

Skipp came through Spurs academy at a time when it was standard for the DM to drop back between the 2 CB's to allow the 2 FB's to attack.

So he'd be very familiar with that position and tactic. And he was exceptional in that position in Spurs youth.

 

[yes]

Four at the back, two high tempo CM's sitting in front closing players down, applying pressure. I feel like any of our CMs, Skipp, Hojbjerg, Bentancur, Bissouma and Sarr would all do well in that role. An AM in front of them, again with a high work rate assisting in closing players down in defensive phases.

Whilst we don't have a CAM, I feel like Kane would do well there, next season we'd have to go out and get someone better suited to the high press in that position. Kulusevski would probably do well there too. Richarlison as the 9 and two wingers either side, Son probably isn't suited to this anymore, he just doesn't have the defensive workrate/ability. He really has dropped off this season.

Forster
Royal - Romero - Dier - Sessegnon
Hojbjerg - Sarr
Kane
Kulu - Richarlison - Danjuma​

In the summer, go out and get a proper CAM, a CB to replace Dier and depending on who leaves (Kane/Son?), replacements for them too. Udogie should slot straight in at left back, perhaps Porro will start at RB if he settles. That high work rate at CM is key, so rotation of our 5 capable CMs would be really useful to reduce likelihood of burnout/injury.

Under Conte, we're being made to look a lot worse than we actually are. Our players aren't all shit, we just set up to put unnecessary pressure on our defense, which is by far our weakest area.

 

[theyearoftheone]

So Porro is done for after 1 game?

 

[bk_spur]

Prologue: This summer, Conte leaves, Kane/Son sold for combined 130m

4-2-3-1

Richy
Danj Kulu Gil
Sarr Skipp
Udog Dier Romero Porro
Hugo

Plus 130m to spend and whatever other moves are needed? I would feel fine, even optimistic.

If Kane stays instead of 90m, I still feel great, and much better than now with the crap 3-4-3 we are running.

Whatever happens to me it feels like it's gonna be more positive and exciting than Conte and Conte ball.

 

[Zomb]

I’m bin voting anyone who wants to ditch him after one fucking game.

Ridiculous “fan”base

Not a single person has seriously wanted him ditched, why are you loudly and publicly soiling yourself about nothing?

You’ve had more yellows than Romero so suggest you dial back on the bin vote threats re: invisible posts / opinions

 

[Zomb]

Prologue: This summer, Conte leaves, Kane/Son sold for combined 130m

4-2-3-1

Richy
Danj Kulu Gil
Sarr Skipp
Udog Dier Romero Porro
Hugo

Plus 130m to spend and whatever other moves are needed? I would feel fine, even optimistic.

If Kane stays instead of 90m, I still feel great, and much better than now with the crap 3-4-3 we are running.

Whatever happens to me it feels like it's gonna be more positive and exciting than Conte and Conte ball.

Gil is a left winger, never in a million years a right forward. Agree with the rest tho Dier and Lloris gotta go too

 

[yes]

So Porro is done for after 1 game?

Nobody said that.

I said, “perhaps Porro starts if he settles”.

He might not adjust to the Prem. He might dominate it. None of us know the answer because he’s only played one game for us.

But yes, “he’s done after one game”…