Antonio Conte saw a side of his Tottenham team against Leicester City on Saturday evening that he will not want to see again in a hurry. Running out 6-2 winners following four second-half strikes, it really could have been more than the eight goals in the contest going on the amount of chances both sides created.
Having cancelled out Youri Tielemans' early penalty to go ahead through Harry Kane and Eric Dier strikes, Spurs looked set to kick on after that but they were extremely sloppy and careless in possession and that always gave the visitors a chance.
Leicester advanced through the middle of the park with ease at times, notably when Patson Daka ran on to Wout Faes' pass before shooting tamely at Hugo Lloris, and they could have even gone in ahead at the break as James Maddison, who was in acres of space in the box, saw his effort saved by the goalkeeper moments after his brilliant equaliser. Wilfred Ndidi then presented Spurs with an almighty gift moments after the restart following some poor play outside his box that Rodrigo Bentancur took with both hands.
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At a time when Conte's men needed to take control of proceedings and not allow their opponents back into the contest, opportunities were still there for Leicester as their extra man in midfield meant they were still coming out on top in the middle and causing the backline major issues. Almost restoring parity once again with Lloris saving well down to his right to stop Daka's header from finding the bottom corner, Conte's decision to introduce Yves Bissouma for the final 20 minutes proved to be a masterstroke.
Withdrawing Dejan Kulusevski and introducing the summer signing to switch to a three-man midfield, Spurs were no longer overrun in the middle and they got a firm grip on proceedings. That extra midfield body worked to perfection and it was some good play from Bentancur that teed Son Heung-min up to end his goal drought in style.
Another screamer was to follow for the South Korean as he took in a pass from Kane to curl home from distance, before completing his hat-trick two minutes later after Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg advanced through a gaping hole in midfield. Some Spurs fans had actually called for an extra man in midfield following the team's struggles against Sporting CP on Tuesday evening and it's something we may see quite a bit of over the coming months going on the success of the formation switch in the final 20 minutes against Leicester.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Conte opened up on Son's impact from the bench and also his tactical change involving Bissouma: "To have a player of Son's level on the bench means that in one moment I can change the game and also with the rotation at the back today and when Bissouma came on he gave us a lot of strength and energy and I think this is the right path for us."
He added: "When I decided to bring Bissouma in and play with three midfielders and move Sonny nearer to Kane to exploit the spaces it was really good because it gave us more balance and we exploited the ability of Kane and Son."
A 3-5-2 system is not something that is new to Conte as he previously used it at Inter Milan to perfection as they won the Serie A title in 2020/21. He has also opted for the setup during his Tottenham tenure as he selected a midfield three of Oliver Skipp, Harry Winks and Hojbjerg in the thrilling 3-2 win over Leicester at the King Power Stadium back in January.
Tottenham fans have very rarely seen it, though, as 3-4-3 has been his go-to pick with some eye-catching options to select in his front three. A permanent switch to 3-5-2 would mean one of the attackers has to drop out of the XI as a result, although Kulusevski could potentially operate as a right wing-back having played that position on a few occasions.
Tottenham do need options, however, as there are going to be numerous games this campaign when things aren't going in their favour and a tactical tweak can help turn things around. Saturday evening was the perfect example of that as Spurs were so sloppy and open in the middle until the introduction of Bissouma as a third midfielder helped them gain control and also play into Son's hands.
Whether it's from the start of games or later on in the contest, a third midfielder could prove to be a gamechanger on more than one occasion this season.
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