Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte held behind-the-scenes talks with Matt Doherty following his impressive display in the victory on the weekend.
This has been suggested by Alasdair Gold who has been speaking about the Irish wing-back on his latest YouTube video following Saturday’s win.
It has been a difficult start to the 2022/23 campaign for Doherty who has found it a challenge to break back into Conte’s starting XI after sustaining his serious injury last season.
And the Italian has not shied away from sharing his honest thoughts on the 30-year-old over recent weeks: “Also Doherty last season played every game. Now I’m not seeing him in the right way to start the game,” said Conte in September.
However, the Italian’s concerns are seemingly in the past with Gold claiming Conte had spoken to Doherty following his impressive showing after the game:
(27:00) “And then he admitted to me afterwards as well that he spoke to him after the game as well. And you know, and I guess he’s seeing a lot of what he wants.
“And after, especially, after that half-time chat, the Matt Doherty of the second half, showed everything that Conte’s wants from one of his wing-backs. Everything he did was really good. He was attacking at every opportunity, defending everything that came his way.”
TIF Thoughts on Gold’s comments…
It was certainly an impressive showing from Doherty who also impressed last weekend in Tottenham’s victory over Brighton & Hove Albion.
Should Doherty now be starting ahead of Emerson?
Yes
No
Despite this game marking just his second start of the campaign, Doherty was able to last nearly the full game in which he was able to record two tackles and complete 88% of his attempted passes (via SofaScore).
With Emerson Royal serving his final suspension on Wednesday against the Red Devils, this will likely offer the Irishman another chance to prove his value to Conte.
And it was certainly apparent Conte loved what he saw from Doherty with the wing-back receiving a massive hug from the Italian as he was replaced in the latter stages.