I think the system is meant to be (when attacking) 1 CB with 1 midfielder in front flanked by the 2 wide centre backs
The other CM fills the gap in front of his partner and basically 5 in attack (WBs flanking the forwards)
Look at our goal and it was those 5 in the in the area
I'm not sure if this is the same as your saying...?
Conte always wants a square of 4 players defending when we are attacking (as a minimum) . That consists of 2 CHs and the 2CMs. The other CH (always the RCB or LCB) can press on into midfield and beyond to add support as an attacking option. We have seen this but not so much this season (so far). The CM can help in attack, as we have seen with some nice mid range passes from PEH and Bentancur BUT their main remit is to get thru the work of protecting and defending.
The front 3 do what they do and the main aim is to get the WBs doing more attacking than defending, although they 100% have to do their defensive shift, hence slightly exhausting.
So many people at the game get wound up thinking we are getting overrun in midfield and critisice PEH and Bentancur for not doing enough or being good enough. They both get thru a tremendous amount of work and are constantly fire fighting as well as tryin to circulate and progress the ball, often outnumbered by a 3.
We (Conte) choose to do this, it will lead to less control and giving up possession in that area.
BUT we then have an extra man elsewhere. Most teams play with 3,4,5 at the back. We guarantee to have 3 up against that and 5 when the WBs are there. That's where we need to be hard to handle and creating overloads. Tuchel said it 'Tottenham attack with 5'...he set his tactics to defend that risk with a 5 when they didn't have the ball.
Where it looks a bit ropey is we are largely relying on breakdowns and counter attacking, rather than periods of control and dominating. We go thru phases of masterful counter attacking but when we're not at it, there's not much left to enjoy...it's a bit of a grind. But grind it out we do. As Conte said last season 'if it looks not great, just don't lose' ie suffer and get a point.
I feel we are a team that will run into form, that might be because Son picks up, romeroes back, Bissouma and Skipp get up to speed, we discover Spence, Richie becomes super sub etc...so much still to unfold.
Is Kane playing okay? Yes. Could we do with more attacking options? Yes. Especially a player who can use pace and dribble to disrupt a defense, ideally playing from RWB, as our starting front 3 have a track record of creating and scoring, with Richarlison waiting in the wings.
