In a back three for Tottenham, Stuart Pearce has advised Antonio Conte to choose Ben Davies over Clement Lenglet because the fullback is more attack-minded.
The Conte style of play at Spurs has received a lot of discussions, and Pearce believes that having Davies at the back makes the system more offensive, as he said on talkSPORT.
Davies was a reliable performer for the Premier League team before Conte arrived and was a regular left-back. But when he took over the situation, his new manager decided to change his roles, and he performed admirably when chosen to start.
Lenglet does not naturally possess the ability to advance as Davies does both on and off the ball because he is a center-back by trade.
Pearce, a former England captain, clarified this by saying that Davies should start on the left side of a three-man line instead of the Barcelona loanee after the latter did so in the Champions League match against Frankfurt.
As is the case for many fullbacks, their forte is in the offensive phase of the game, not the defensive, according to Pearce.
He either chooses to put Lenglet or Davies at left center-half, which I believe causes Tottenham to suffer a little bit. Davies advances overlap, underlaps, and enters the final third of the opponent if he is played.
Superior to Lenglet. When playing Frankfurt, he used Lenglet. He is more of a traditional central defender who will not attack.
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Even with five defenders at the back, I believe that Davies playing on the left flank, where he ends up in the opponent’s half, makes the formation more of an attacking one. Davies excels at doing it.
Numerous complaints have been made about the kind of football being played by Spurs, which is actually unfair to the manager.
When they defeated Arsenal to finish fourth and earn a spot in the Champions League the previous season, nobody had a problem.
Yes, Conte’s teams don’t press as hard as other coaches do, and it appears that he doesn’t push his players to be proactive in an offensive sense when they are not in possession of the ball.
However, Tottenham has continued to play winning football this season, and as long as that trend continues, Spurs will advance.
