Tottenham Hotspur: Coach Conte criticizes the lack of squad depth

Too many failures

Tottenham Hotspur invested almost 170 million euros in 13 newcomers last summer, ranking fourth in the Premier League spending statistics behind Chelsea, Man United and West Ham (for an overview). Nevertheless, coach Antonio Conte does not see the London club as broad enough in terms of its title ambitions for the future. After the recent injury absences of players like 58m transfer Richarlison or winter loan Dejan Kulusevski, the Italian said further transfer windows are needed to make the squad competitive.

Due to the 2-1 home defeat against Newcastle United last weekend, Tottenham missed out on points with second-placed Manchester City (to the Premier League table). Expectations and the pursuit of the first major title in more than 30 years are high at White Hart Lane, and Conte referred to patience. The coach had already pointed out in the run-up to the season that you had to “proceed step by step” and that it would take “two or three transfer periods to make this squad fit to play two important competitions like the Premier League and the Champions League”. , quoted him at the beginning of the week in the English “Times“.

The 53-year-old, who took office almost a year ago and has averaged 1.88 points in 52 games since then, is “frustrated” by the current situation, but this is by no means to be understood as a reproach against the club. In addition to the offensive forces Kulusevski and Richarlison, Tottenham recently had to do without new signing Cristian Romero and Pierre-Emile Höjbjerg after they suffered minor injuries – according to Contes a result of the increased workload.

Ideally, the coach would like to “play with the best team” in the league and “premier class” and also have “four or five good change options”. The latter does not currently give the depth of his squad, you have to improvise too often, “but we knew that”. With a squad strength of 25 players listed in the TM database, the “Spurs” are currently in the middle of the league, in the overall market value ranking the club occupies fifth place with a squad value of around 685 million euros.

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