Former Tottenham Hotspur duo Graham Roberts and Danny Murphy are questioning Antonio Conte’s ‘bizarre’ decision to start Ryan Sessegnon on the right during Tuesday’s 2-1 Champions League win at Marseille, speaking to talkSPORT.
It’s not as if Conte didn’t have a choice either.
Emerson Royal, Djed Spence and Matt Doherty were all sat on the bench at the Stade Velodrome. The versatile Japhet Tanganga, meanwhile, produced probably his finest ever performance in a Spurs shirt on the right-hand flank; last season’s 1-0 opening day victory over Manchester City.
The sight of a left-footed Sessegnon lining up on the opposite flank with a place in the Champions League knock-out stages up for grabs, then, understandably raised a few eyebrows.
Tottenham Hotspur come from behind to beat Marseille
“(Conte) is not happy with his defence. He keeps changing it. When you’re good, you keep the same team,” argues Roberts, a 1984 UEFA Cup winner with Tottenham.
“Last night was a strange one for me; starting Sessegnon at right-wing back when we’ve got three right-wing backs on the bench!
It was, to quote former England international Murphy, a ‘bizarre’ decision. One, in his defence, Conte managed to rectify at half-time, hooking Sessegnon for the right-footed Emerson while introducing some midfield muscle in the shape of Yves Bissouma as Tottenham produced a much improved second ‘45 on French soil.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s thunderous 95th minute winner, meanwhile, ensures Spurs would finish top of Group D, relegating an Eintracht Frankfurt side who beat Sporting 2-1 in Lisbon to second place.
Roberts, meanwhile, is refusing to give up on Conte just yet. One of the modern game’s most succesful tacticians, he says, must receive further backing in the transfer market before he can really hope to challenge at the top of the domestic and European game.
“I think he needs two to three transfers,” Roberts adds. “Once he gets them, he’ll have his own team and you will see a different style.”
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