Tottenham Hotspur’s physicality has impressed TalkSport pundit Perry Groves, who has picked up on Antonio Conte’s evolution of the north London side.
The pundit was speaking on TalkSport following the Lilywhites’ recent victory in the Premier League on Saturday in N17.
Spurs have made a strong start to the new campaign having gone six games unbeaten as they sit third in the table on the same number of points as second-placed Manchester City.
This comes after a summer transfer window which has seen Conte add six new faces to his options for this campaign, with Destiny Udogie returning to Udinese for the season (via Transfermarkt).
And Groves has noticed a difference to the size of Conte’s players, with the two smallest members of the starting XI against Fulham coming in at just under 6ft.
He said: “The other thing I noticed with them is, we all know about their fitness, don’t we? Everybody says about the gruelling pre-season they had, you’ve got to be unbelievably fit.
“I think Ryan Sessegnon went and got his own personal trainer because he had hamstring problems, so to make sure his core was stronger so he didn’t put pressure on his hamstrings, because he knew that he couldn’t have that overload of physical work.
“They are a big team. And when I went through their stats yesterday, the two smallest players yesterday were Emerson Royal at right wing-back, who’s 5ft 11in, and Ryan Sessegnon at left wing-back, who’s 5ft 11in. Every other player is 6ft/6ft-plus.”
TIF Thoughts on Groves’ comments…
This is certainly something which will hold an advantage for Spurs, especially when it comes to set pieces, which is clearly a big thing for Conte going into this season.
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The Italian brought in his fellow countryman and set-piece specialist Gianni Vio over the summer to improve their goalscoring capabilities from dead-ball situations. They have already scored three from set pieces this term – the third-highest tally so far in the Premier League this season.
On the flip side, having such a tall squad will also help to defend set pieces and, in general, make Spurs a tougher side to play against physically.