Davide Chinellato of La Gazzetta dello Sport has provided an inside look at the events that led to the sacking of Antonio Conte from his position as manager of Tottenham Hotspur.
According to the report, Conte and the club were never a good match and the Italian coach was aware of this during his 16-month stint with the team.
Conte was brought in to replace Nuno Santos, who had only been in charge for three months.
Despite guiding Tottenham to a remarkable top-four finish, Conte reportedly described it as a “miracle” and expected the club to back him up in the transfer window.
The report also suggests that Conte’s outburst aimed at the players and the club was accurate, but the way he delivered the message was “unbearable” for the club hierarchy, resulting in an irreparable break.
It also cites Tottenham’s transfer activity in the summer as a source of frustration for the Italian coach. This is backed by a recent report by Football Insider which claimed that the manager had requested the signing of proven world-class players like Romelu Lukaku and Stefan De Vrij in the summer, but the club’s chairman, Daniel Levy, refused.
Similarly another report suggest that Conte also wanted stars like Achraf Hakimi and Alessandro Bastoni, but the club signed Spence and Lenglet. This left him frustrated and contributed to his outburst.
However, Davide acknowledges that there were mistakes made by both sides, with Conte also at fault. He cited the former Chelsea man’s stubbornness, inflexibility, and poor man management as reasons for his early dismissal.
The report further claims that Antonio Conte lost the dressing room and ‘the players no longer followed him’ because of all the noise around his uncertain future.
The journalist has given an in-depth insight on what went around at the club behind the scenes in the last 16 months and a lot of it is quite revealing and surprising.
Most of the problems identified by him lies within the roots of the club and any big name manager who is brought in to deliver titles immediately might face the same problems as Conte did.
That being said, Julian Nagelsmann is said to be looking for a project in his next job and perhaps Tottenham can be that project but that will require patience and backing from the club.
