One year has just passed since Antonio Conte took over as Tottenham Hotspur’s manager for the first time.
He started off on a winning note on November 4, 2021, defeating Vitesse 3-2 at home in the group stage of the UEFA Conference League.
He has led Spurs into the Champions League’s first round after a year, demonstrating the progress made under his leadership.
Plenty was made of the transferred business Conte did in the summer, getting Daniel Levy to part with his usual approach and getting players in early.
Looking back at starting XI for the first Tottenham game under Conte
But ahead of Sunday’s clash with Liverpool, a look back at his first starting eleven in charge of Tottenham makes for interesting reading.
How many of the players will actually be different against Jurgen Klopp’s side? Cristian Romero won’t play, but that is just through injury.
Sergio Reguilon has been offloaded, with Ivan Perisic, a player Conte knows well from his time at Inter in to replace him.
Rodrigo Bentancur faces a late fitness test, or Oliver Skipp may well come in for him, with Lucas Moura also battling an injury to be fit.
Heung-min Son won’t play after fracturing his eye socket, but he would have done it if he was fit for this game.
The team that will face Liverpool is therefore not much different from his first one, despite all the improvements under Conte and the summer of spending.
This emphasizes how much work still needs to be done at Spurs and how many changes Conte still wants to make to the team.
Even though a large portion of the attacking responsibility will rest on Harry Kane’s shoulders, that team is still capable of finishing the job tomorrow.
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