When Antonio Conte agreed to join Project Tottenham in November 2021 it was considered quite a coup for the North London club.
Here was a manager who had won league titles in two different countries. Here was a proven winner who expected only the very best and demanded more still.
Furthermore, admired for his construction of defensively-sound teams, the Italian was viewed as the ideal man to make a porous and out-of-sorts Spurs hard to beat again.
In his final season at Juventus, the Zebras conceded just 23 on route to a third consecutive Scudetto. At Chelsea, he orchestrated a highly efficient back-line that were breached 0.8 times per 90.
Simple maths therefore informed us that if Conte was true to form, and Harry Kane and Son Heung-min continued to score liberally, then Tottenham could challenge high in the Premier League.
His first truncated campaign heralded highlights and some lowlights, the latter usually accompanied by the tempestuous Apulian throwing his toys from a proverbial pram, as is his want.
“If you want the truth, I’ll tell you the truth.”
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Antonio Conte wasn’t happy after Tottenham dropped more points 👀 pic.twitter.com/y1PKS3L6bA
An embarrassing loss to Europa minnows Mura had him deride the quality of his squad. Elsewhere, there were well-aimed jibes at his board for a perceived lack of investment.
By the season’s end however, Spurs secured a precious fourth spot. All told, 2021/22 was a solid B+.
And then came a successful transfer window, the kind that any manager would be pleased with. In came Christian Romero and Clement Lenglet at the back, and Ivan Perisic and Yves Bissouma in midfield.
Add the erratic charms of Richarlison up front and it wasn’t the £170m outlay that got people talking but the shrewdness of the purchases, with each individual strengthening a key area.
So impressive was Tottenham’s summer business their Premier League odds shortened as a consequence.
Again we turn to basic maths. Conte had done relatively well with a squad he considered to be limited. Now a genuinely elite coach had a well-stocked toolbox to tackle the tasks ahead.
Fast-forward to the here and now however, and there is scant evidence of anything being tackled well at all.
Spurs have shipped in 25 heading into this weekend’s North London Derby. That’s more than West Ham or Everton, two sides battling relegation. Where are the defensive masterclasses that were heavily alluded to via his reputation?
More so, they have lost five times in their last 11 outings, a figure that must seriously rankle with a ‘proven winner’. Tottenham have gone behind in games on 11 occasions and their season is not even halfway completed.
Factor in Conte’s penchant for the dramatic, that has seen him jump ship from two title-winning employers, and acknowledge too the stolid, unadventurous football he’s serving up, that is starting to exasperate the fan-base, and it’s genuinely surprising to discover that several of his peers are ahead of him in the betting odds as the next manager to leave his post.
When it’s also accepted that the league-topping success of their arch-neighbours Arsenal makes their relative struggles all-the-worse, it’s actually baffling.
Antonio Conte’s days are numbered in North London. You read it here first.
*Credit for all of the photos in this article belongs to AP Photo*
FIRST PUBLISHED: 10th January 2023
