Outpouring from players as Tottenham Hotspur suffers a real loss

A difficult week on the pitch has been devastating off it for Tottenham Hotspur following the death of fitness coach Gian Piero Ventrone. 

With the loss to Arsenal still stinging from the weekend and missed opportunity to take three points fresh in their minds, Tottenham Hotspur has only one thing in their hearts today, Gian Piero Ventrone. The loss of the long-time Juventus fitness coach who joined Tottenham with Antonio Conte last fall is hitting the team hard.

Who was Gian Piero Ventrone?

When Conte came to Tottenham Hotspur, he brought an interesting addition to his staff, Gian Piero Ventrone. First meeting at Juventus, when Conte was a player, Ventrone was his fitness coach for more than a decade in Turin.

Ventrone joined Juventus in 1994 and was there with Conte until 2004 when their paths diverged. Conte, as we know, went into coaching, becoming one of the best of this ear. Ventrone continued to be an assistant manager and conditioning coach with further stops in Italy, France, and China.

This past fall, when Conte came to Tottenham after more than 17 years apart, Ventrone, known as the Professor to his players, the two reconnected at N17 as part of Conte’s staff.

A clear impact on Tottenham and the team

We know that over the last week, Conte has seemingly had something else on his mind; now, I think we all know what that was. How long Ventrone has been ill and the impact his issues have had on Conte and the team is not clear. However, we know that Ventrone had a clear impact on the players based on the outpouring of sadness from the team.

Players have expressed their devastation at the news starting with Richarlison and moving on through Harry Kane, Lucas Moura, Ryan Mason, and even Dele Alli, taking to Twitter to share their disbelief.

In footballing terms, this is a big loss for Spurs as Ventrone was the one helping get the team fit for battle. Additionally, after all the angst following Spur’s first league loss of the season, losing a club member puts things into perspective.

This could also be a galvanizing moment for the team to unite and do something special for a man who impacted them all. Whether that becomes true or not, only time will tell.

For now, all we can do is express our condolences and keep Ventrone, his family, and all the Spurs family in our hearts and remember while only a game, football can bring so much more when we are together.