Skipp's spell on the sidlines amplifies his importance to Tottenham
The last few days have been pretty miserable for Tottenham. Given the improvement in performance and results since Antonio Conte took charge at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in November, supporters would have expected all the spoils in recent home meetings with Southampton and Wolves.
However, Spurs struggled against both, succumbing to defeats to lose pace in the race for a top-four finish. A third league defeat in a row marked Conte's worst losing streak in 12 years with the north London side now five points behind fourth-placed West Ham, albeit with three games in hand on the Hammers.
That said, fans would have expected Spurs to sit closer to the Champions League spots following the international break rather than to have dropped to eighth in the table. For Conte's excellence, some have questioned the decision to persist with Davinson Sanchez in defence following back-to-back sub-par displays from the Colombian, while a failure to land Adama Traore last month means the Italian has to settle for Emerson Royal or Matt Doherty at right wing-back, two players who look out of their depth in the role under the Italian's watchful eye.
Yet one selection issue out of his hands has been the absence of Oliver Skipp. Injury means Skipp hasn't featured for Spurs since coming off the bench for the final half hour at Chelsea last month and his spell on the sidelines in the middle of the park, however brief, has been felt. If Conte is to persist with a 3-4-3 setup, then Skipp needs to be one of the first names on the teamsheet.
None of the four primary central midfield options at Conte's disposal - Skipp, Harry Winks, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and January arrival Rodrigo Bentancur - offer the same positional discipline as Skipp, nor do they have the same composure to deal with a high press, evident in Spurs' 3-2 loss to Southampton last week. Despite his slight frame, the 21-year-old is prepared to get stuck into opponents having averaged 2.2 tackles per 90 in the Premier League this season, that the third best of all Spurs players to have made 10 or more appearances.
In addition, the youngster is solid when he does win the ball, with a pass success rate of 90.1% the best of all players for the north London side. Few will remember Nuno Espirito Santo's reign at Spurs with great fondness, but one of his better decisions was to make Skipp a first team regular and that has continued with Conte at the helm.
It's no wonder that Conte is such a fan of Skipp considering his defensive awareness allows for the attacking players to carry out their duties without fear of being caught out when they do press forward, this being particularly notable with the wing-backs. Skipp shields the defence well and breaks up play efficently, before recyling possession to good effect that allows Spurs to remain defensively sound and to regain their shape when they do win the ball back.
Without Skipp, though, Conte's side struggle and that has been particularly evident in their last two league games. Indeed, Spurs' win ratio when Skipp starts is an impressive 71.4% in the 14 Premier League matches he has started this season. The drops to just 12.5% in the eight games he has not started in 2021/22. In addition, the number of goals conceded per game rises from 0.86 to 2.13 when he doesn't start.
It can be difficult to quantify Skipp's importance to this Spurs side, but there is clear proof they are a more cohesive and solid unit when he does feature from the outset. Every great team has a midfielder to carry out the hard graft that doesn't get the attention of those further forward, with Skipp very much fitting into this category. He won't hog the limelight in the same manner as Harry Kane, Son Heung-Min or Hugo Lloris, yet he is just as important, if not more so, than the trio given the crucial role he does play in the middle of the park.
Next up for Spurs is the trip to this nigh-on unstoppable Manchester City juggernaut, and one that will be out for revenge on account of Spurs' 1-0 win over the league leaders on the opening weekend of the season. Skipp was central in that success, impressing alongside Dele Alli and Hojbjerg in a 4-3-3 system in Nuno's first league game at the Spurs helm. Now with Conte in charge, the Italian will be hoping Skipp can recover from injury in time for Saturday's game as they look to get their top-four push back on track, or else Spurs could be in for a punishing 90 minutes at the Etihad Stadium.
