Since arriving at Spurs, Antonio Conte has almost always set the team up in a 1-3-4-2-1 variant, which fits perfectly with both Tottenham‘s resources and the Italian pragmatist’s preferred 1-3-4-3 shape. Rarely and only in order to compact the center Conte uses a 1-3-5-2, but even then one of the forwards plays higher up both in attack and defense.
In defense Spurs set up quite deep, gradually raising the line of pressure or lowering it depending on the course of the match and the dominance on the pitch by one side. The vast majority of tackle and interceptions attempts are made in their own defensive third.
Conte has prepared the team and is keen to give away the initiative in the match, so Tottenham is fast at regrouping and forming a low and compact block in the center, which takes the shape of a 1-5-4-1 in the final phase of defense.
After receiving the ball the wingers (Kulusevski, Son) position themselves wider and move closer to the striker (Kane) only when the wing-backs (Romero, Perisic, Doherty) provide passing options on the wings even becoming classic offensive wingers in the offensive third. In a deeper variant of attacking play they use high mobility in the centre of the pitch with the use of all three defenders and very deep positions for the central midfielders (Hojbjerg, Betancur, Skipp) on whose movement and direction of the playmaking depends the positioning of the players on the wings: higher when going down the flanks and lower when forcing the play down the middle.
When there is an opportunity to launch a fast counter-attack, Spurs’ forwards often start out wide and lower and only as the action develops do they either attempt to dribble or pass to their partners coming from deep in the free channels.
