Muttley
Helder Postiga
Hojberg did the role you describe for Conte IMO, not Bentacur
Bentacur was the aggressor doing the small amount of pressing conte wanted
I think the talk about the CM is ignoring the issue that the problem right now is everything is slow.
We don’t need to stop counter attacks if we’re attacking better. Hell we have faced 2 per game so far
What we do need to do is move the ball better
I saw Hoj used in different roles through his period at Spurs. When he joined, I thought he was the holder, and under Jose seemed to spend way too much time in the back four alongside the centre halves. Then as he moved more into the orthodox 6 role, he was just getting passed around and wasn't aways even making the effort at times. Rarely subbed, he just played at the same pace for the 90 mins. The period I'm talking about above was pre Bentancur injury. No doubt in my mind, Conte had given Hoj more freedom to be further forward (22/23) and he got 4 goals and 5 assists in the league. That was at the expense of Bentancur who was sacrificed into the deeper number 6 role. However, we did get CL that season.
I remember moaning that Bents had to do the water carrying for Hoj in that 3-4-3 system. It all fell apart when Bents took the 2 injuries though. I'm not sure he has ever come back with some of the sprinting speeds and stamina that we saw when he first joined.
As for your other point, I do agree that we could see less counter attacks if we attack better. We won't eliminate them though and should be setup in a way that we don't look like a rabbit in the headlights when they inevitably happen. Sprinting back en masse can't be our only defensive tactic.