Journalist Ronan Mullen has been impressed by Matt Doherty’s ability to revive his Tottenham Hotspur career under Antonio Conte.
Not that long ago, the Spurs manager seemed to have little faith in the wing-back, telling the press that he didn’t ‘want to lose’ and so he wasn’t ready to play the Irishman.
In full, he said (via Goal): “Doherty last season played every game, and now I am not seeing him in the right way to start games. I am not stupid. I don’t want to lose.”
However, Doherty has played in the last two Premier League games – keeping clean sheets in both victories – and so it seems as though he has responded well to the criticism.
In footage shared by Mullen after the game, Conte was seen hugging his defender passionately, clearly in praise of his display after substituting him in the 2-0 win over Everton.
In reaction to that, the journalist wrote: “Way to bounce back Matt Doherty, serious amount of resilience.”
TIF Thoughts on Matt Doherty and Spurs…
According to Football.london, Doherty has been working ‘incredibly hard behind the scenes’ to prove himself to his manager – and it seems to have been working.
Not only has he forced his way into the team, but Conte doesn’t seem likely to drop him any time soon if his post-match quotes are anything to go by.
Indeed, he told football.london: “About Matthew, honestly I’m really happy, really happy. He played a good game against Brighton but today he played better than the last game.
“He played well in the last game and I was happy also with it but today I have seen again the Matt Doherty of last season.
“I was really pleased and said to him ‘finally now you are the player that I know!’ It’s important, important for us because to play all these games in a short period, it is important to have all the players available.”
All in all, it was a pretty good day at the office for Doherty and that footage certainly seemed to show just how much his manager has changed his mind in recent weeks. Add that to those quotes above and it’s safe to say Conte is now really backing his player publicly when things were rather different not so long ago.
Is Matt Doherty Spurs' best wingback?
Yes
No
