Antonio Conte happy with this Tottenham Hotspur star Ryan Sessegnon’s progress after Brighton win
Antonio Conte started Ryan Sessegnon and Matt Doherty down the wing-back positions against Brighton and Hove Albion after Emerson Royal was suspended due to a straight red card against Arsenal, and perhaps Ivan Perisic needed some rest.
Whatever the reason behind it, it was much-needed game time for the duo. Sessegnon was highly impressive and arguably our best player in the game, while Doherty was also dangerous down the right flank and dependable in defence.
Speaking after the hard-fought 1-0 win at the Amex, the Italian manager praised the young Englishman for the work that he has been putting in. Conte said, as quoted by the official Tottenham Hotspur club website:
“I’m happy because Matthew played his first game of the season, finally, and Sessegnon played a really good game, he showed that he is a reliable player, he’s a really young player but he’s improving a lot.”
Sessegnon has largely played as an attacking wing-back during his professional career. That is akin to Perisic’s playing style, who made his name playing high up the pitch down the flank for teams like Bayern Munich and Inter Milan.
The Croatia international, in that regard, is a world-class player to learn from. It won’t be a surprise to see the 2018 FIFA World Cup runner-up making his way back into the starting XI against Eintracht Frankfurt later this week in the UEFA Champions League group stage.
Emerson could also retain his spot considering he will anyway have to be left out of the matchday squad for our next two league games. There is, of course, the chance that we see both Sess and Perisic start together- as we did in our 6-2 win against Leicester City last month.
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In that system, the Croat can play down the right-hand side while the England U21 international starts in his natural position. However, Doherty has also shown that he is an able replacement for the Brazil international.
