Should Conte consider playing two Tottenham stars together?

Tottenham Hotspur coach Antonio Conte is known for adhering to his style and formations. However, he has a couple of talents that break the mold, so should Conte break his?

Since arriving at Tottenham Hotspur, Conte’s preferred formation has been the 3-4-3, which requires all three strikers to provide link-up play with midfield. This requirement fits the games of Harry Kane and Dejan Kulusevski very well, as both are adept at returning to the ball and turning to make things happen. For Richarlison and Heung-min Son, the style is not as well suited, as both are players that like to get out and run with the ball in front of them, not their backs to the goal.

While the World Cup is an international competition, and we can only read so much into how players perform, it is obvious that Kane is likely the best false nine in the world. Richarlison is at his best in and around the box as a striker. The problem for Tottenham is that Richarlison plays the left or right forward, and Kane plays in the middle when they play together, which does not leverage Richy’s strengths to play off of Kane’s all-around game.

Conte has used a 3-4-1-2 with Inter; is it time to do the same at Tottenham

We have not seen the formation with Tottenham; however, Conte used a 3-4-1-2 off an on at Inter Milan during Scudetto winning season with the club. Whether it would be Son and Richy or Dekki and Richy, the idea of having Richarlison playing ahead of Kane has to be tempting. No player in the game spreads the field from the inside out as Kane does, and this opens opportunities in the box if Spurs move quickly.

The defensive requirements for Kane may be more than he wants to commit right now, but the formation would be one of the options in the bag for the team and could be a strong one. The key is that Kane and Richarlison would be on the field together because as we saw in the World Cup, Kane will put the ball there, and Richy will certainly get it and score.