Why Antonio Conte Is The Perfect Appointment For The Struggling Spurs

This image is a derivative of An Evening with Antonio Conte by @cfcunofficial (Chelsea Debs) London (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Tottenham had no choice but to be bold and strike while the iron was hot.

The decision to replace embattled manager Nuno Espirito Santo with Antonio Conte is, in the most simplistic of terms, an absolute no brainer.

With Manchester United ‘umming and ahhing’ about Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s future, Spurs sensed the opportunity to pounce on the hottest free agent in the coaching landscape and took it.

Where-ever Conte has gone, the wins have followed and the trophy cabinet has slowly filled up as a result – making his appointment a must for the success-starved London club.

13 years without a single piece of silverware and successive seasons outside the top four is beyond unsatisfactory for a club of Tottenham’s stature.

Right now, Spurs can’t afford to fall further behind the pack and are witnessing the likes of West Ham, Wolves and even Arsenal all overtake them in the past few weeks.

Another finish outside the top four would not only be disastrous to the hip-pocket as they look to pay off a sizeable billion-dollar stadium debt but also to their overall standing in English and European football.

The buck needed to stop here and this is why the Conte appointment makes more than just purely ‘common-sense’.

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Antonio Conte has been in this situation before, taking over a struggling ‘big’ club and getting results quickly.

The Italian boss is a shrewd performer. He’s a motivator, a disciplinarian and a leader. 

He was once described as ‘The Godfather’ by Leonardo Bonucci for his ability to make players listen when he spoke.

Andrea Pirlo once called him “a viper”, approving of both his man-management and motivational skills along with his knack of winning the dressing-room – something he did within moments of arriving at Juventus.

Conte demands hard-work on the training field and on the pitch while expecting the same buy-in from the club’s hierarchy to help wield his magic – which ultimately helps satisfy his burning desire to win.

A lust for results sounds quite elementary. In a results-based business, wins are what keeps managers in jobs, turnstiles ticking over and morale high among players and fans alike.

However, for someone like Conte, it’s like a drug and when you’re an addict - you will do anything to satisfy your cravings.

His pursuit of success and no-nonsense approach has rubbed people the wrong way in the past but his record is undeniable and it speaks, well and truly, for itself. 

When Conte arrived at Juventus a decade ago, the Bianconeri had finished seventh in successive campaigns and were still reeling in the years following Calciopoli.

It only took one historic undefeated season for Conte to take them back to the pinnacle of Italian football – adding another two titles along with two Supercoppas in the years that followed.

Chelsea finished 10^th before Conte arrived and were champions 365 days later, while more recently, he took Inter to a Europa League final within a season or arriving and the following year to their first Serie A title in 11 years.

Even on the international stage, the Italian boss got the best out of arguably the Azzurri’s worst squad ever assembled in a major tournament – taking them to the quarter-finals and beating the likes of Belgium and Spain along the way.

He arrives and he wins. It’s quite simple.

In-fact, from 536 games as a manager he’s only lost an astonishing 90 times – boasting a 58.77%-win percentage spanning back to his time at Arezzo, Siena, Bari and Atalanta preceding his rise to managerial stardom at the Bianconeri.

What bodes well for Conte, in comparison to his Spurs predecessors, is the reported control he will have over club’s transfer strategy in January and a promised war-chest to help mould the squad in his image.

The difference in approach from chairman Daniel Levy is perhaps borne from Conte’s established relationship with football director Fabio Paratici whom he worked closely with at Juventus – but is also a major step forward from his previous reluctance to cede control of transfer business and invest heavily in the market – albeit with the pretence of making sales.

On this occasion, Levy may not have had a choice this time around.

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Conte only signed a year-and-a-half long deal with Spurs and has already set the standard that this isn’t a long-term project – he wants Spurs to win and win now – just like he has done where-ever else he’s landed.

His lucrative track-record, along with the timeframe he has initially signed for, has seemingly and theoretically twisted Levy’s arm.

Levy would also be aware of his reputation of walking when the club doesn’t match his lofty ambitions and the last thing Spurs would want is losing another top-class manager.

At Juventus, he walked due to their lack of investment, the same with Chelsea who failed to deliver him both Romelu Lukaku and Virgil Van Dijk which, he believes cost them another title.

However, at Inter he left because he didn’t believe the club could deliver the same-level of success as they slashed their wage bill by 20% to keep the club afloat.

The Spurs hierarchy know what they’re getting in Conte and perhaps there is none better than Paratici to advise Levy and co on how to keep the Italian boss onside.

Before Conte can get to work in January, he faces the interim task of getting the best out of what he has at his disposal - while analysing the positions he needs to strengthen and who he needs to either: bring in or let go in the coming months.

Conte will more than likely utilise a disciplined 3-5-2 formation – a system which prides itself on a solid defence and an equally ruthless attack – averaging a goal difference of +133.66 over his three spells at Juventus, Chelsea and Inter.

So far this season, Spurs have been neither of those – in particular the latter – scoring only nine in their opening ten games (second worst attack along with Southampton).

Last season, Conte’s Inter were the Serie A’s best defence (35 conceded) and the league’s second-best attack (89 goals) only one behind the swashbuckling Atalanta who scored 90 for the season.

Many of their results were borne from the sensational tandem of Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez up top who combined for 41 goals and 17 assists.

The prospect of Conte working with Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min in a similar vein is a tantalising one, who last season combined for an astonishing 40 goals and 24 assists – but have failed to replicate this form in part to Kane’s struggles.

Could Conte, a long-time admirer of Kane, light a spark under his misfiring captain just like he was able to do with Lukaku who realised his full potential in the fashion capital?

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Although getting the best out of their struggling attack is one thing, as is getting things sorted on the other two lines.

Summer signing Christian Romero’s best football came in the heart of a back three at Atalanta and will be familiar with a system similar to Conte’s but is an area of the park which still needs strengthening. 

Attacking full-backs Sergio Reguilon and Emerson Royal will also be given extra license to roam as wing-backs which works into their strengths.

How they work around their issues in the middle of the park will be a curious one. 

Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and Oliver Skipp have seen a lot of minutes recently in a double pivot but how will that change in a system that only requires a sole six?

Delle Alli and Tanguy Ndombele may get a chance to impress but how will they fare under Conte’s no-nonsense approach given their attitude problems in the past?

With Spurs already being linked to out of contract midfielders Franck Kessie and Marcelo Brozovic – the latter, in particular, who flourished at Inter under his tutelage – it’s clear that changes are imminent over the next six months.

While questions still remain as to how he deploys the likes of Lucas Moura, Steven Bergwijn and Bryan Gil in a system which doesn’t use traditional wingers. 

Nonetheless, over the next few months, Spurs will be an intriguing case study before Conte initiates his terraforming of the North London giants.

Conte’s appointment comes with heavy expectation and rightfully so. His longing for winning can perhaps only be matched by Spurs’ ambitions to finally get their hands on some silverware.

While winning the title this season may be a little farfetched, there is still time to turn their season around and as we saw with Thomas Tuchel at Chelsea - things can change quickly with a savvy manager at the helm.

With still a bulk of the season to go, a top four finish should be the aim from here and is well within the realms of possibility especially when you take into account his ability to make lemonade with a limited supply of lemons. 

There’s still hope for domestic silverware in the Carabao Cup and FA Cup along with continental success in the inaugural Europa Conference League – which would finally end their long-awaited trophy drought.

Beyond that, it’ll be interesting to see how Spurs fare after Conte gets his hands on a full pre-season and an entire summer transfer window.

Could they make the leap back into the pack with the rest of England’s big boys and go for their first Premier League title in over 60 years?

We’ve seen him do it before and there’s no reason we should doubt him again, but just how big is the gap between them and the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City and will it be too much for even Conte to overcome? 

The jury is still out. But in the meantime, he’s the appointment Spurs sorely needed. 

They’ve finally gotten their first-choice, not their seventh choice like with Espirito Santo.

Now, it’s time to step aside and let the man cook.

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