Antonio Conte: Richarlison gives Tottenham a ‘nasty’ edge; 4-2-4 formation possible

Antonio Conte has admitted that he likes ‘focused, nasty’ Richarlison and hinted that he could experiment with playing an attacking 4-2-4 formation this season.

25-year-old Richarlison joined Spurs from Everton in a deal worth £60m inclusive of add-ons but was unable to play on the opening day of the season because of a suspension carried over from his time at Goodison Park.

The Brazilian was introduced as an impact substitute last weekend at Chelsea and provided an added dimension to Tottenham’s attack – one that had been frustrated during the first hour of play at Stamford Bridge.

Spurs would ultimately claim a point thanks to Harry Kane‘s last-gasp equaliser, and Conte – speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of the game against Wolves – praised the impact that Richarlison made when he came on.

Conte also hinted that Spurs will look to utilise four strikers at times this season, meaning Richarlison, Kane, Son Heung-min and Dejan Kulusevski could all be on the field at the same time in games to come.

“For sure Richy is a player that made us focused, nasty. He’s a player I like,” Conte said.”We are working also on the tactical aspect because the season will be long and there are many games that we have to play also with four strikers.

“In the end at Chelsea, we played with Lucas Moura as wing-back, Perisic – we are talking about in the past a striker, Richarlison, Kulusevski, Sonny, but to do this, it’s important to have organisation in the tactical aspect.

“The problem could be for the others (the opposition) when you have the ball, but without the ball also we must not lose the balance. The second goal we conceded against Chelsea, I think that we lost a bit of balance.

Conte was also asked whether or not he had spoken to Thomas Tuchel about their touchline fracas, but the Italian said he hadn’t and quickly downplayed the seriousness of the incident.

“No, no. Honestly, I think that both of us, for me, possibly for him, for me I am focused on the game against Wolverhampton. For me, no problem. It can happen, this type of situation. It is normal. I think I stay in football for 14 years and for me, it can happen this type of situation.”