Antonio Conte described <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/sport/football/2022/08/06/classy-tottenham-open-campaign-with-southampton-thrashing/" target="_blank">Tottenham's dominant 4-1 win</a> against Southampton as the "perfect start" to their Premier League season. Conte took over as manager last November and transformed the London club's form to seal a top-four finish. Some impressive business in the transfer market has raised expectations ahead of the new campaign and Tottenham responded with a vibrant performance. Ryan Sessegnon, Eric Dier and Dejan Kulusevski were all on target as Tottenham responded in emphatic style after James Ward-Prowse handed Southampton an early lead against the run of play. In the end it could have been a much bigger margin of victory but Conte was clearly more than satisfied with the intensity of his side's play. "It was a perfect start for us, despite going behind," Conte told the BBC. "We conceded a goal but after this we continued to play and we continued to believe in what we are working on in the training sessions. "I liked the game a lot for the result but especially the way in which the result was achieved - creating many chances to score, good possession, good high and medium pressure and we were good when we lost the ball and the intensity to try and get it back. I saw a lot of positive things." Player ratings from the match can be seen in the gallery above. To see the next rating, just swipe.