Thread by @SpursWebSeb

Antonio Conte, new tactics, Antonio Conte, new formation, Antonio Conte, winners and losers, Antonio Conte and Antonio Conte... A THREAD! 🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹

So, Antonio Conte is now the official new manager of Tottenham Hotspur. I won't cover anything to do with Nuno in here as I really said all I had to say in my last thread. This will be more about Conte and what he will bring to Spurs.

Let's start by acknowledging the elephant in the room. Conte is a better manager than Tottenham deserve. No Champions League football, no Europa League football, eighth in the Premier League, a struggling squad, a wantaway star striker... Conte did not have to join us.

This makes me rather optimistic from the start. Why would he have agreed to join? Because he's pals with Paratici? I'm sure it played a part. But I think Tottenham and Levy must have made a very attractive argument, as well as a number of assurances. Money to spend? I hope so.

You can go through the Spurs squad and pick out who you think is world-class and who is not. However, what is not up for debate is the manager. Tottenham now have a world-class manager. Not world-class of yesteryear either. He only won Serie A last season!

Across his career, Conte has three Serie A titles with Juventus, as well as two Supercoppa Italianas. He won the Premier League and FA Cup with Chelsea, the former in his first season. He won the Serie A with Inter Milan, as well as making a European final.

That is an impressive resume indeed. Where Conte goes, trophies usually follow. And yes, the same was said for Jose Mourinho when he joined Tottenham, but I would argue that Conte is more current manager. He is experienced but is also still winning big silverware NOW.

So, what can Tottenham expect from Conte? I'll get into the tactics and stuff in a bit. But first and foremost, what fans can expect is passion and entertainment. Conte lives and breathes the game and you will see plenty of movement on the touchline from him.

The Italian also demands the very most from his players. Deadweight will not be tolerated. I'm sure he will give every player a fresh start after joining Spurs, but the moment they fall below his expectations, they will find their game time extremely limited. Cut-throat.

Conte has always been famed for his blend of passion, discipline and, for want of a better word, craziness. Things will certainly be more exciting around the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium than they have been over the past two or three seasons.

Conte is also fiercely ambitious, another reason to be optimistic. If he did not think he could win big trophies with Tottenham, he would not have taken the job. It's as simple as that. He clearly feels he can take Spurs from their current struggles to trophies in the short-term.

The man is known to be somewhat of a quick fixer. He doesn't often need five, six, seven years to turn a struggling team into world-beaters. He is only on an 18-month contract at Tottenham and he will be aiming to win something by the end of that first full season.

Over his last five managerial roles, Conte has boasted a points-per-game average of over two in every single one. From 2020/21 backwards, it has gone 2.11, 2.12, 2, 2.28, and 2.19. The level of success and consistency there is hugely impressive, two things Tottenham need.

That is a keyword Conte used in his first interview. He wants Tottenham to be more 'consistent'. For too long, Spurs have taken one step forward and two steps back. This man wants to turn the hopeless cha-cha slide into a brisk walk!

So, what formation and tactics will Conte use at Tottenham? Of course, there is no way of telling for sure, but we can make some pretty educated guesses based off his previous jobs. I have taken a look at Inter Milan and Chelsea, in particular.

Inter Milan was his last job and Chelsea was, of course, in the Premier League, so they are arguably the most relevant case studies to look at for Tottenham. In both cases, Conte played with three central defenders and two wing-backs, so I would bet a lot of money on that.

At Inter Milan, Conte often played a three of De Vrij, Skriniar and Bastoni, with Hakimi as the right-wing-back and Perisic on the left. The back three gives the team solidity in the centre, while the wing-backs are the epitome of a Conte attack force, while also offering cover.

Inter were known for their possession football under Conte, recycling the ball around the defence, looking for pockets of space to feed into the midfield or bust forward out wide. Playing out from the back in possession and executing a dynamic and fast breakaway when possible.

Conte loves to overload the forward and wide positions in attack, essentially smothering the opposition until the goals come. However, he still likes to build on a foundation of a strong defence and can certainly shut up shop when he wants/needs to.

I'm sure we have all seen that video from his Chelsea days against Man City doing the rounds this week, where the Blues are stood in a rigid defensive formation, refusing the press the ball and parking the bus if you will. Conte can do that, but it certainly does not define him.

Moving on to his Chelsea days, Conte also adopted a three centre-backs and two wing-backs formation. This time, it was Azpilicueta, Luiz and Cahill in the middle, then Victor Moses at RWB and Alonso at LWB.

Steve Holland, who was Conte's assistant at Chelsea, described the wing-backs as one more of a full-back (Alonso) and one more of a winger (Moses). Moses was, of course, traditionally a winger until he was pushed back into defence by Conte.

Looking back on the Inter defence, you could describe Hakimi as more of a full-back and Perisic as more of a winger too, so that could be something to look out for. Any wingers currently at Spurs could potentially become wing-backs in the near future.

Holland also claimed that he and Conte liked to pick a right-sided centre-back who was more of a defensive full-back to cover the attacking wing-back. So when Moses bombed forward, Azpilicueta would shuffle across and occupy the right-back slot.

For example, at Tottenham, if we had Emerson Royal bombing forward at RWB, Conte might want to name a Japhet Tanganga type who has experience both at centre-back and right-back, much like Azpilicueta at Chelsea.

The main difference between Inter Milan and Chelsea was the overall formation. At Chelsea, we saw a 3-4-3. At Inter Milan, it was a 3-5-2 with two strikers. Predicting what will happen at Tottenham is near-impossible at the moment, and it could change a lot.

On the one hand, we have a ready-made strike partnership of Son and Kane who could play as the 2 in a 3-5-2. On the other hand, we don't have a backup striker and we also have an abundance of wingers so a 3-4-3 could be better suited to the squad. Wait and see on that, I guess.

In midfield for Chelsea, Conte had two rather defensive/holding options in Kante and Matic, with the latter also rotating with a more creative Fabregas. At Inter Milan, he had Brozovic sitting and the more creative Eriksen/Barella ahead.

This seems perfect for Spurs. We have a ready-made holding duo in Skipp and Hojbjerg. We also have two more creative CM options for a 3-5-2 in Ndombele and Lo Celso. So lots of options there for Conte to choose from.

Holland also revealed that at Chelsea, in the 3-4-3, the two number tens behind the striker would tuck in on the attack, leaving room for the two wing-backs to press up. This would essentially leave a 3-2-5 in the final phase of attack. That packs a lot into the final third.

Holland added that this essentially split the outfield 10 into two groups of five. The back five had to keep the team solid and start attacks. The front five had to penetrate and ultimately finish the attacks with goals. They won a Premier League title that season.

So, let's bring this thread to a close. What are we going to get from Conte? Passion, hard work, high fitness, wing-backs high up the pitch, a clear tactical way of playing, a proving winner and hopefully some smiles back on faces around the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

If you want to read more about his tactics during his time at Inter Milan, this is a great article:

themastermindsite.com/2021/03/19/ant…

If you want to watch the full video analysis of Steve Holland talking about Conte's tactics at Chelsea, and I HIGHLY recommend it, you can check it out here:

academy.coachesvoice.com/programs/cv_st…

It is certainly going to be very different with Conte in charge when compared to Nuno and Jose. But I'm sure we are all ready to try something new and, with any luck, get some long-awaited glory days back to Tottenham and put an end to that 5000 day wait #COYS