@Pranav Patki

Tanguy is an artist, one appreciated by all Spurs’ fans alike for his art. Gliding along the field, twinkling toes and leaving exasperated players behind, players and audience all in awe of his skill. The problem was never his skill – it was always his mindset – which translated to whether he was fit enough or tried hard enough to warrant being on the team or perform when in the team.

Any team would benefit from having a talent like Tanguy. But Tanguy needs to learn to apply himself. There have been many managers out the door since good old Tanguy arrived – but he has found favor with none, not even our dearest Poch who so desperately wanted him, that he refused to sanction a move for any other midfielder that famous ‘no singings’ summer.

We can pretend that the answer to this problem lies with Spurs’ or be open to the possibility that it is, at least in part, Tanguy’s fault. 

Tanguy has always come across as being not bothered when on the pitch. Like Poch said – ‘you sign for a club not to play games, but to train’. The player must be killing himself in training to get the chance to play on matchday – something which is evident Tanguy does not do. This is going to be even more so critical with Conte now, who has much more of a no-nonsense approach. 

Tanguy contribution to Spurs’ has pretty much been a net negative so far – mostly down to him completely being switched off defensively. As long as he isn’t actively closing down players and shielding, its like Spurs defending with 9 men – as has been the case so far – something which one imagines will not be tolerated by Conte. For his talent to be shown to the world, Tanguy must ensure he can prove to everyone that it is worth having him in the team. This is not France where a team would pick itself week in week out and one can expect to walk into the team. I’m sure that this is not how Tanguy climbed up tiers in football so quickly – he must have surely worked very hard in training to become better and deserve to be in the team, week in week out, and put in those performances which made the world take notice. 

Any silver lining or is it all doom and gloom? – Yes, there’s plenty to look forward to! 

Conte wanted Tanguy at Inter – he appreciates his talents. This would mean that he probably had a plan for him to play and unlock his talents. Let’s hope Conte is still bullish on him at Spurs! 

We saw Tanguy actually busting a gut to close down players in games. This would mean that he understands what the coach wants and is willing to work towards it. He knows that if he doesn’t put in the work, he isn’t going to play, and one can only underperform for so long with a string of great managers, before being classified as a lost opportunity globally.

Our very own Alasdair says staff at Spurs think Tanguy is the fittest he’s ever been at N17 – we sure hope so, or its not going to fly. This is encouraging if he is to stand any chance, to put it mildly. 

What’s next? – Only time will tell! There hasn’t been too long for us to understand if Conte is gong to stick with 3-4-3 or shift to a 3-5-2 (which one can presume would be more beneficial for Tanguy, given the need for an added midfielder). The line-ups until now seems to have been chosen primarily with players who have had higher levels of fitness, having played week in week out until now. We can expect this to change once the squad catches up in fitness soon – Tanguy not having started in the first two games doesn’t seem to be much of a problem. The international break will do him a world of good to further improve fitness and show Conte what he can do. Given our crunched schedule, I’m sure Tanguy will get at least a few opportunities to show everyone what he can do, again – whether it be deservedly or not. Let’s hope it all goes well and we get to see the gem of a player, light up the new Lane.