Thanks to a combination of COVID-19 and some rather typical Lancashire weather, Tottenham Hotspur have seen three games postponed in the last few weeks; Premier League clashes with Burnley and Brighton, plus the UEFA Conference League decider against Rennes.
But while Spurs have played just six of a potential nine games since the appointment of Antonio Conte as Nuno Espirito Santo’s replacement, we can still draw a few early conclusions about the Italian’s plans in North London.
When you consider that Dele Alli has played just two minutes of Premier League football under Conte, reports suggesting that he will be allowed to leave on loan in January will have caught nobody by surprise.
Tanguy Ndombele, meanwhile, is finding game time as hard to come by now as he did when Nuno was still at the helm. There is no obvious role in Conte’s system for an orthadox number ten.
Furthermore, the lack of opportunities afforded to both Harry Winks and Steven Bergwijn have only increased speculation linking the seldom-seen duo with a January move away from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Does Matt Doherty have a future at Conte’s Tottenham?
But what of Matt Doherty?
A player who, when Conte arrived in November, was tipped by many to become Tottenham’s answer to Victor Moses, handed a clean slate by the new boss.
Doherty, after all, certainly seemed well suited to Conte’s feted 3-4-2-1 formation, having shone in a right-wing-back role at Wolves.
Six weeks on, we’re still waiting for the renaissance.
Doherty has started just one of Conte’s six games and hardly grasped that opportunity, subbed off after 52 minutes during that humiliating 2-1 defeat to NS Mura.
It was another performance in which Doherty’s lack of technical ability stood out like the proverbial sore thumb.
The more naturally-gifted Emerson Royal appears to be Conte’s first-choice right-wing-back. And it’s telling that, in the recent 3-0 hammering of Norwich City, Japhet Tanganga started with Doherty watching on from the bench.
According to Brazilian publication UOL, Tottenham have made an approach for Gremio starlet Vanderson, a 20-year-old right-full-back who’s been likened to Barcelona legend Dani Alves due to his searing pace and swashbuckling style.
It is understood that top-flight rivals Brentford have won the race for Vanderson’s signature, however, with the buccaneering Brazilian heading to West London in a deal worth around £12 million.
Tottenham, then, look set to miss out on one of South America’s brightest talents. But it’s the thought that counts.
And the fact that Spurs made an approach for Vanderson in the first place does not bode well for Doherty’s hopes of a Moses-esque revival.
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