Dimitar Berbatov has claimed that Antonio Conte has a ‘luxury problem’ at Tottenham Hotspur with his four attacking options – Son Heung-min, Harry Kane, Richarlison and Dejan Kulusevski.
The former striker added that when all four players are fit, then Conte faces that ‘very difficult’ moment of telling one of the players that he won’t be starting, as he told Premier League Productions.
Well, with Kulusevski currently out injured, then that makes Conte’s selection process a lot easier, with Son, Kane and Richarlison all starting the defeat in the north London derby.
Since the start of the season, the only man that hasn’t been dropped to the bench is Kane, with the others, at one stage, being rotated.
Before the international break, Conte tried that tactic with Son and it worked a treat because he came off the bench to score a stunning hat-trick against bottom-of-the-table Leicester City.
And it’s sure going to test him as the season goes on, with Berbatov making it clear that someone like Kane simply can’t be dropped.
“I think Conte has a bit of a luxury problem on his hands, with the attacking options that he has,” said Berbatov. “Not all the time can he play all of them at the same time.
“When you leave somebody on the bench, like Son was, he didn’t look happy and he reacted the best way possible by scoring a hat-trick
“But, from a football perspective, when you are in the team, then you want to play, especially if you are a big name and you have been there for seven or years, like Son, so he has a big reputation around the club. Kane you can’t leave out.
“So, sometimes you have that very difficult moment where you need to decide which one to leave out depending on the game and how you are going to explain to him why you will leave him out.”
PERFECT PROBLEM FOR CONTE
If there was anything such as having a perfect problem, then this would be it because this only suits and benefits Spurs in the long run.
Just like they are witnessing now, with Kulusevski out injured, there isn’t much of a worry because they still have three top players to pick from.
Equally, if any of those were to get out-of-form, like Son was at the start, then you have the others to drag the team over the line.
Either way, come the end of the season, this added depth up top might just prove to be season-defining for Spurs and Conte.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
