Former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Jamie O’Hara has advised Antonio Conte to start Richarlison alongside his favoured front trio in a home match to help combat their lack of creativity.
Tottenham beat Wolves 1-0 in their previous Premier League fixture, but things were not plain sailing for the host having struggled to generate clear-cut opportunities to a great extent even though the performance improved in the second half after a disappointing first 45 minutes.
That picture was quite similar to the problem Spurs faced in their 2-2 draw against Chelsea. Conte brought on Richarlison in both matches and the Italian played with a front four in certain phases to take the game to the opposition.
Richarlison, in particular, made quite an impact coming off the bench in both fixtures which helped the north Londoners to get a favourable result in the end.
O’Hara believes Conte should change his formation and start the Brazilian in their next home match against Fulham early next month to deal with the creative problems they have been facing recently.
The 25-year-old explained that Conte should look to tweak his system to a back four to incorporate Richarlison into the lineup and also revealed how he would like to see Dejan Kulusevski play as a number ten, with the Brazilian slotting into the right-hand side of the attack to form the front trio.
Speaking on talkSPORT, O’Hara said: “I want to ask some Spurs fans about maybe going to a four at the back at home and trying to get them all in the side. I feel like we need a bit more creativity in midfield.”
MORE SPURS STORIES
“Playing 3-4-3, [Pierre-Emile] Hojbjerg and [Rodrigo] Bentancur, I think they struggle to get hold of the game. Wolves dominated us in midfield and I think that’s a problem for us. I know he loves that formation.”
“When you’ve got Richarlison on the bench, can you fit them all in? Can you get Kulusevski, Kane, Son and Richarlison in the team? The only way to do that is if you go four at the back. I’d just like to see if we can get him [Richarlison] in the team from the start.”
“And that’s why I think maybe going to a four at home and we dominate more of the ball in midfield. See if we can get him in there. Can you put Kulusevski as a ten? Then Richarlison on the right and get all four of them in there. I’d like to see it.”
Spurs Web Opinion:
Playing with a front four does come with some risks as Conte’s side would be on the receiving end of dangerous opposition attacks as they would lose a defender in their backline. Not to mention, players would also need to adapt their style of play compared to what they have been doing so far.
One would think that teams would sit back and let us have the ball in a home fixture, but Wolves have shown that is not the case. Hence, balancing things out is quite essential if Tottenham want to make that change, as all the forwards would need to put in an extra effort in defence to help the team in such a situation.
Keep up to date with all the latest Tottenham news and opinion by following SpursWeb’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.
