Tottenham Hotspur have appointed Antonio Conte as their new manager – and many are wondering how he would set up tactically.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s brief spell as Tottenham boss is already over having been sacked on Monday.
Tottenham have wasted no time replacing Nuno as Conte has now been secured.
This is a huge coup for Tottenham, with Conte a proven winner from his time at Juventus, Chelsea and Inter Milan.
Conte will hope to bring that success to Tottenham, and he could also bring his 3-5-2 system to North London – so how could Tottenham line up?
Tottenham in a 3-5-2 under Conte?
You would imagine that Conte would want to play three at the back having done so at Chelsea and Inter.
Nuno played a 4-3-3 at Tottenham with a more advanced midfielder, but Conte could change that immediately.
Hugo Lloris would still be in goal, but the back three in front of him could be interesting.
Cristian Romero played in the middle of a back three at Atalanta, so would be at home in this system.
Eric Dier and play on the right or in the middle; Conte may want Romero’s added pace in wider areas.
There is no clear left-sided centre back. Ben Davies could fill in there, but Japhet Tanganga’s history at left back could help him here.
Sergio Reguilon and Emerson Royal seem fairly good fits as wing backs, where they can focus more on attacking than defending.
Whilst his Chelsea system was a 3-4-3, Conte won Serie A last season with a 3-1-4-2.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg could play the Marcelo Brozovic role in front of the back three, but he would need more forward-thinking players beyond him.
Nicolo Barella and Stefano Sensi featured there at Inter, and the most natural fits would be Giovani Lo Celso and Tanguy Ndombele.
Signed in 2019, many were hoping to see Lo Celso and Ndombele thrive together in midfield.
So far, no manager has been able to solve the conundrum of getting them into the same side.
With protection from a holding midfielder and three centre backs, Lo Celso and Ndombele could finally have the freedom to go forward and create.
Lautaro Martinez and Romelu Lukaku were Conte’s strikeforce at Inter, and Conte could go with Son Heung-min and Harry Kane up top.
Those two players have a great relationship already, and seeing them work off each other in attack could be perfect.
Natural wingers like Steven Bergwijn, Lucas Moura and Bryan Gil may have to reinvent themselves to fit into this kind of system.
As a starting XI though, there may be reason for Tottenham fans to be excited, especially given Conte’s success in recent years.
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