Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Yves Bissouma may now have caused Antonio Conte with a selection headache following his cameo appearance on Saturday.
This has been suggested by the Spurs correspondent Alasdair Gold who has been discussing the 6-2 victory in north London on his latest YouTube video.
Having signed for the Lilywhites in the summer, Bissouma has only made one start for the north London club which came in the away trip to West Ham United (via Transfermarkt).
Finding himself on the bench again on Saturday, the Mali midfielder made a brief 20-minute cameo against Leicester City which saw him provide a crucial tackle in the lead-up to Son Heung-min’s hat-trick goal.
Conte has been fairly critical of the midfielder in recent days with the Italian sharing his concerns over his defensive abilities which has seen him feature mainly from the bench.
“The only (new) player that is struggling a bit with the tactical aspect is Bissouma, but also he is improving a lot in every aspect, so I am sure when we start again and play 12 games, for sure he is another player I can count on,” Conte said.
His arrival to the game on Saturday saw Conte bring off Dejan Kulusevski and play with three midfielders and Gold believed this is something which could potentially be seen again after the international break:
(42:00) “And I do wonder whether with this 3-5-2 and looking quite good in that second half whether do you want to go to the Emirates and only play with two midfielders against their three?
“I wonder whether a midfield with Bissouma who’ll have had two international games in that period as well. So he’ll only be sharper. To have Bissouma, Bentancur and Hojbjerg all in a three at Arsenal still becomes a bit more of a different thing, a stronger thing with Kulusevski on that right as well.
“Yeah, I’d be really intrigued to see how that plays out ahead of the trip to the Emirates because I’m starting to feel it makes sense. I really am.”
TIF Thoughts on Gold’s comments…
Tottenham’s first-half display certainly left a lot to be desired with the Foxes enjoying some great opportunities on goal with the two midfielders not able to provide much protection.
Should Conte keep this three-man midfield?
Yes
No
Although Leicester found themselves chasing the game by the time Bissouma was introduced, he certainly brought about some further defensive reassurance.
In just his 20 minutes on the pitch in north London, Bissouma was able to provide two interceptions and won the single aerial duel he attempted (via SofaScore).
But changing the formation to a three-man midfield would mean one less spot for an attacking option but would open up the possibility of playing Dejan Kulusevski at right wing-back.