Antonio Conte has revealed what Matt Doherty has been working on in training after his improvement in recent games has impressed many. Ahead of the tie, Conte spoke about Doherty’s improvement, in his pre-match press conference.
Antonio Conte said: “For sure Matt is a player that improved a lot from when I arrived. We work, we work hard, on the tactical aspect, on the physical aspect, with the video, with analysis video. During this process, there are players that improve more quickly than the others, and Matt, I think, he improved a lot in these four and a half months.”
In Conte’s 3-4-3/3-5-2 favoured system, there is a heavy reliance on the wing-backs. Doherty has experience in this role, which he played during his time at Wolves and his recent form has shown his ability to get up and down the right flank to make the required impact for his side.
Antonio conte said: “Now he is showing also personality, to be confident and for me with this system, the wing-backs are very, very important, very important. To have this improvement is good. But at the same time, also the other players showed improvement, Sessegnon, Emerson – he had in the last period a problem, a groin pain. The same for Sergio Reguilon, after Covid. For sure my task is to improve every single player. I am happy when we finish the season and I see my players improve their performances and their football knowledge.”
Fans will have to be careful not to get carried away with Doherty’s progress as something the whole Tottenham squad need to work on is consistency. However, if the Irish international can keep up his solid form and make the required impact defensively and offensively for his side, then Conte could have a key player in his squad and one less position to fill when the summer transfer window opens.
