Tottenham: Mura an opportunity for Spurs players to join Conte’s rotation

The last time Tottenham Hotspur was on the road in Europe, then coach Nuno Espirito Santo created an atmosphere of having a B-team with him for the trip to Vitesse. As Spurs again travel in the Europa Conference League, heavy rotation is expected from Antonio Conte, but even is an entirely new XI play, it feels like a try-out more than a B-team relegation.

After a boot camp for all of the non-international players and a couple of weeks to show that you are willing to push yourself in practice, there are a lot of players that deserve a chance to play. Instead of being a sign of a demotion to the second-string; Thursday’s match in Solvenia against the 341st ranked team in UEFA feels more like a try-out for Spurs rotation than anything.

Players need to treat the match as a real opportunity to show two things in particular to Conte.

Each position under Conte comes with expectations in terms of tactical ability and physical ability. First, players need to demonstrate that will, that desire, that heart to leave it all on the pitch in pursuit of a win. For some players, this means pressing hard to produce mistakes and for others, it will be more about their consistent ability to challenge for 50/50 balls.

Players that play with 100% effort in every practice and match will be noticed by Conte as those are the type of players he likes. That might be the reason Ryan Sessegnon suddenly has a chance to jumpstart his career.

The second part of impressing Conte is tactical for players. Tactically speaking there are a further two aspects. The first is the actual play on the ball. The touches, the passes, the control, and the nerve to play effectively under pressure. If a player cannot handle the pressure and perform the required tasks with the ball on the pitch, they are not going to play long for Conte – regardless of how much heart they show.

The second aspect tactically in playing for Conte is around the understanding of the role and position one is playing. The system Conte plays may feel like a free-for-all when Ben Davies is tromping into the box, however that movement, like almost all of the others on the pitch, is by design under Conte.

Players that can consistently be where they are supposed to be and play the way Conte wants are the ones who play the most. This does not mean players are in a box, as there is room for creativity and innovation, however, it should never be at the expense of the structure of the team in Conte’s world.

Thursday is a real chance for many Tottenham players to start a new chapter in their Spurs story.

Conte was clear in his pre-match press conference, that he needs to see his players in a real competition, a real game, to further evaluate where they stand in his squad. This is why we’ve projected so much rotation to the XI.

Whether it is a real beginning for players like Ryan Sessegnon and Bryan Gil or a new beginning for Tanguy Ndombele and Dele Alli is up to each individual, as we know Conte is watching and this is their chance.