Journalist Lewis Steele stated that Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte was ‘barking’ at Ivan Perisic during the club’s recent game.
This weekend in the latest round of Premier League fixtures, Spurs hosted Wolves looking to continue their unbeaten start to the new campaign.
And they did exactly that in a tight afternoon of football in N17 which saw Harry Kane provide the only goal to take Spurs to the top of the table with seven points.
However, during a tight first half that ended 0-0, the club’s Italian manager was spotted venting some of his tactical frustrations at the new Tottenham wingback.
Indeed, in a post shared to Twitter, Steele noted Conte’s behaviour, tweeting: “It’ll be interesting to see Ivan Perisic’s average position and touch maps. Conte barking at him to hold his position in line with the front three.”
TIF thoughts on Ivan Perisic, Antonio Conte, and Tottenham Hotspur…
Considering this was Perisic’s first competitive start for Spurs, it’s no shock to hear that he needed a little more communication on where exactly he needed to be positioned to suit Conte’s tactical needs.
Will Ivan Perisic shine at Spurs this season?
No
Yes
The duo have worked together before – with the Croatian playing 44 times for the Italian over the span of his career – and so it will be interesting to see how long it takes before Perisic truly adjusts to his new surroundings.
When looking at the player’s Premier League heatmap on SofaScore ahead of the game, he has clearly stuck to operating high up on the left flank, and it seems as though Conte is keen for that to persist – with Steele noting the urgency from the Spurs manager to keep him aligned with the club’s forwards against Wolves.
However, it certainly seems as if Conte’s message worked as the Croatian’s flick-on provided Kane with the goal to break the deadlock in N17.