MY ACCOUNT
Tottenham boss Antonio Conte has four high-quality attacking stars available to him — but now he must decide what his best forward line looks like.
The Italian manager has favoured a 3-4-3 system for most of his Spurs tenure, meaning he must leave out one of Harry Kane, Heung-Min Son, Dejan Kulusevski or Richarlison.
Each of that quartet has a claim to a regular starting spot — so which three make the best attacking trident?
Ahead of Spurs’ clash with Leicester, we assess Conte’s forward options.
Harry Kane
If anyone is not at risk of losing their starting position, it is Kane.
In all competitions, Kane leads Spurs’ rankings for goals (five), shots (30) and shots on target (13) as well as big chances created (four) and passes into the final third attempted (119).
The England captain is not only Tottenham’s primary goal threat — he also ranks among their most dangerous creators as well.
The 29-year-old is the club’s talisman and is, essentially, undroppable. He certainly features as the centre forward in Spurs’ best front three.
Heung-Min Son
Not too long ago, Son’s place in Tottenham’s starting line-up was as undisputed as Kane’s.
However, the South Korean has endured a difficult start to the 2022-23 campaign, failing to score and providing just one assist.
It is not for the want of trying, though. Son still leads Spurs’ charts for chances created (17) in all competitions — but things are just not coming off for him.
Only six of his 36 crosses have found their mark, he has succeeded with only four of his 17 take-on attempts and his failure to score comes after 19 shots.
If things continue in this vein, Son is at serious risk of losing his place in the side.
Richarlison
Richarlison has had significantly less time to make an impact than his counterparts — but his two strikes are still enough to make him the club’s joint-second highest scorer in all competitions this season.
Similarly, only Ivan Perisic has more assists (three) than the Brazilian’s two thus far, among Spurs players in 2022-23.
The 25-year-old was signed at great expense from Everton, so Conte will surely want to find a place for a player that set the club back £60million.
Dejan Kulusevski
While Kulusevski is less of a goal threat than the aforementioned trio, taking fewer shots than any of those three team-mates and scoring just once, he brings something different to the table.
The Swede is an outstanding dribbler, a willing presser and a creative presence.
He leads Tottenham for take-ons attempted (20) and completed (seven), possessions won in the attacking third (six) and open-play expected assists (1.38) in all competitions.
The 22-year-old is also the only naturally left-footed forward at Conte’s disposal, showcasing his capacity to bring balance to Spurs’ front three.
Horses for courses
Conte warned his players to get used to rotation, with Kane, Richarlison and Son appearing to be the current first-choice trio — though Kulusevski is waiting in the wings, ready to supplant the South Korean.
The decorated tactician also suggested he would utilise all four on occasion.
He said: “All the players have to accept the rotation especially up front, we have four players.
“For me especially it’s very difficult right now to drop one of these four players, but I have to make the best decision for the team, also for the players.
“For sure I’m here to try to change the old habit. The old habit was that the players were used to playing in every game. What happened in this type of situation is that you don’t have great possibilities to win.
“For this reason what happens with one of these four players will be normal and you have to know it’s good for a coach like me to have these options.
“For sure I think every manager likes this kind of problem.
“For sure I have the possibility to pick three important players and know that I have another player on the bench who is ready to come on and help us, like in the [Champions League] game against Marseille.
“It was 0-0, I decided to put Kulusevski on to the pitch and to keep also the three strikers to become more offensive. I think this is an important solution for me.”
