In what has just become the story of the early summer – at times overtaking the Champions League final – Tottenham Hotspur and Real Madrid seem to be locked in a battle over their next manager. The common belief is that between the two clubs, Mauricio Pochettino and Antonio Conte will have new jobs. We know Tottenham fans are split on Pochettino and that Gary Pearson here at HotspurHQ wants him, here is why I want Spurs to hire Antonio Conte.
Win-Win for Tottenham
Let us start by acknowledging this is a win-win situation for Tottenham right now. If either Mauricio Pochettino or Antonio Conte are named as the next head coach the fans will be happy and the club will have some direction again. There are certainly pros and cons for either man to be in charge and when it comes to Harry Kane it might not matter which takes over as him leaving may be a foregone conclusion.
The point is after the disharmony that was the Jose Mourinho experiment, the idea of having another top coach sounds a lot better than Scott Parker or Graham Potter. Both Parker and Potter are solid coaches who may be excellent one day. However, Pochettino and Conte are both excellent now. The point is the only way Tottenham can mess this up is if the hire is NOT Pochettino or Conte, although many would live with Erik ten Hag. Anyone else and Daniel Levy can expect people blocking his way into the team facilities.
All that said, at this point while my money or my heart – what fan doesn’t love Poch – may not be on Antonio Conte to get the job my head is. Here are three reasons Antonio Conte should be the next Tottenham manager.
Conte would not be coming to Tottenham alone
We know that the problems at Tottenham run far and wide. There is the play and lack of consistency on the pitch, there is a lack of success in recruiting, and it takes an obnoxiously long time for Tottenham to get any deal done – witness this managerial hiring.
The point is, a manager alone cannot fix what ails Tottenham Hotspur, ask Jose Mourinho. Rather, we know Tottenham needs to also hire a true football mind to be the sporting director or director of football for the club.
Daniel Levy knows he needs to cede some power at Tottenham
Word on the street is if Pochettino gets the job it will also come with player recruitment authority, which is nice but stretches an already massive job. Alternatively, if Antonio Conte comes to Tottenham, he likely would not be coming alone. The word on the internet is that Conte would likely have Fabio Paratici with him.
https://twitter.com/TalkTHFC_/status/1399034478325084172?s=20
For those that do not know Paratici, he is the man who for the last decade helped to build Juventus. Yes, he has had money to spend and yes he has had fantastic coaches – Conte and Max Allegri to name two.
However, it is important to remember that Juventus was in Serie B as recently as 2007 and had not won a trophy – beyond the Serie B Championship – since 2004 when Paratici came in. For those that do not follow Italian football, Juventus has won at least one trophy in every season since 2011/12. The man knows talent and also just happened to leave Juventus on May 26 of this year.
Maybe, Conte goes to Real Madrid but if that is the case Paratici will not be going with him, as we all know Florentino Pérez is not about to give up any power. With Paratici available, his relationship with Conte, and the need for BOTH positions at N17, that gives us two big reasons in one to go with the Italian.
Conte has been there and done that
Much like Jose Mourinho before him – but in a very different style and fashion – one of the biggest reasons to want Antonio Conte as the manager is the success of his teams. Across three different teams in Serie A, with Chelsea, and even with the Italian National team, Antonio Conte has had success.
For the last decade, he has not coached a team that has averaged less than 2 points per match. That is incredible, with Italy being his lowest return with a mere 2.0 points per match over 24 games. That match-to-match success has translated into eight major trophies, including five league championships and three cups.
Juventus had not won a trophy in seven years and then won Serie A three straight times, with Paratici side-by-side with Conte. And while the majority of his success has come in Italy, six of his eight major trophies, he did win in his two seasons in England as well.
Yes, Chelsea spent but the rewards were real with the Premier League title in his first season 2016/17 and the FA Cup in his second season.
I do get that Pochettino won a couple of trophies this season at PSG but that was not even his team, it was the team that Thomas “I can beat Pep Guardiola” Tucel built. Those Juventus teams, that Chelsea team, and even Inter Milan this season were all teams that Antonio Conte built, he can do the same at Tottenham.
Conte is the new voice Tottenham needs
Beyond winning everywhere he has been and ideally coming with a director of football in hand, most of all Antonio Conte is a new voice, which the team needs.
We have to be honest with ourselves, whatever the reasoning was, this team of players stopped giving it for Mauricio Pochettino less than 2 years ago. These players went from being willing to run through a wall for the man to not making the runs the team needs to stretch the pitch or get back defensively.
I do not want to say the team quit on Pochettino, as that would be too harsh but it was the players who got Pochettino fired as much as anything.
Yes, it has been nearly 2 years but how much has really changed. Much of the core of the team that let Pochettino and then Mourinho down is still at the club, why would they listen to Pochettino now, because he won two cups with a team featuring two of the top 10 players in the world?
This season at Inter shows Conte can do it at Tottenham
Antonio Conte has shown he can coach a variety of different players and work to get the best out of them. Even if it means adapting himself and the player a bit. If we look at the two seasons Christian Eriksen had at Inter under Conte, he came in on the outs and now has a trophy.
Eriksen was not the player Conte wanted – that happens a lot at Tottenham BTW. However, over the course of two seasons, Conte learned Eriksen, Eriksen learned Conte and the league, things were adapted and Inter knocked off big bad Juventus – Conte’s old club.
This man is not stuck in philosophy, this man is not stuck in his head thinking tactics, this man is simply a winner who knows how to coach and get the best out of his teams, whatever they might be.
Ultimately, we have no idea who Daniel Levy is going to hire and he may not even know. However, the package deal Conte can bring, his title-winning experience, and his new approach and attitude are all reasons that Antonio Conte should be the next Tottenham coach. Oh, and did I mention he is available and free, just like his friend Fabio Paratici.
What do you think? Who should Tottenham hire and why?