The signing of Ivan Perisic was met with much excitement by the Tottenham faithful. The Croatian was a key piece of Antonio Conte’s Scudetto-winning team in 2020-2021 and has been one of Europe’s most consistent players over the last decade.

When he was signed by the Italian for the North London outfit, he was touted as a key piece for Conte’s intricate puzzle. Fast forward to March and now Perisic is struggling to convince, having been benched for Ben Davies in Tottenham's 2-0 wins against West Ham and Chelsea, before returning to the XI in their 1-0 defeat to Sheffield United in the FA Cup and a 1-0 defeat to Wolves in the league. This is how it has gone wrong for the Croatian.

Structural Issues

At Inter Milan, where Conte used Perisic to such devastating effect, the system in place was 3-5-2. At Tottenham, he has deployed a 3-4-3. Many would say there is almost no difference between the two, however, for the wingbacks, there are completely different responsibilities.