When Antonio Conte chose to work with Tottenham Hotspurs, questions like these might pop into your head. Is it possible that with the regular coach of Intermilan to surpass the Tottenham version like in the Pocchetino era? Isn’t in the hands of a European champion coach like Jose Mourinho nothing more than a narrative of continuing decline?
So what can Conte do? Could his brief and successful season at Chelsea be replicated here? Conte actually started his second episode on British soil with impressive results. His cold hands managed to make Harry Kane and friends back to their proper performance. Conte became the first manager at Spurs to go unbeaten in his first 7 games.
This positive result makes them come back to be counted as serious competitors after poor days under Nuno Espirito Santo. Then three consecutive defeats – from Chelsea, Southtampton and Wolverhampton – occurred. Three consecutive defeats in domestic battles saw Conte’s system immediately look like it was in shock.
What is going on with this playing system which has a track record of champions in Italy and England? One of the reasons that emerged came from the assessment that Tottenham Hotspur’s transfer work in the January transfer market was quite bad. The management of the team nicknamed “The Lilywhites” only brought young players with no experience into the most competitive league on earth. They left four important players and brought in two youngsters from Serie A.
Regarding this policy, as tweeted by Fabrizio Romano’s twitter account, Antonio Conte said this. “This is the vision of the club, yes. If you want to be competitive immediately, I think you need players with sufficient experience. But (again) the vision of the club is this. I understand.” So the point is that Tottenham Hotspurs choose young players who can develop rather than those who are ready to use. So it is in this focus that we will see how Conte’s system works.
Interestingly the schedule does not give enough time. Conte must find a solution soon. So people wonder, after two bad results at the beginning of February, what will this team look like when they meet Man City who are progressing steadily?
Last night, the Hotspurs fans were eagerly waiting. Harry Kane, et al will travel to the Ettihad stadium. What will happen again? Will their fate be at the level of Sporting CP? The Portuguese club who made 5 goals without reply in the Champions League. The statistics are lousy. Man City is at the top of the standings. From 25 matches, they managed to win 20 times, drew 3 times and lost 2 times. This result makes Pep Guardiola’s men firmly entrenched full of confidence with 63 points.
If we refer to the post-match stats, we can see that this match was a display of Man City’s dominance; as is the case with Pep Guardiola’s tiki taka teams. Mastery of the ball to penetrate 71%. City even created 733 passes compared to 308 of Hotspurs. With an accuracy of 688 times compared to 242 times! As for kicks on goal, City made 21 attempts with the result on target only 4 times. The Hotspurs can only make 6 trials. The positive thing is, from that few trials, they are more effective with 5 times on target.
Dominant statistics do not really describe the tension that works in the field. It doesn’t show in 90 minutes of normal time, what factors are the changing forces that make Pep’s system reap defeat. I think we will agree that the main aspect of the dramatic victory is the solidity in defense that is typical of the Italian team and the counter attack mechanism as a complement.
Choosing defensive football has always been an approach in front of Pep’s team even though not many have succeeded. Conte is considered a success, including when he coached Gli Azzurri against Spain. No less important is Harry Kane-Son Heung-min-Kulusevski’s trident who appeared solid in the continuity of defense and attack. In addition to the speed and ability to exploit the gaps left behind by the rearguard.
This goal shows the performance of the counter-attack, the speed and sharpness of exploiting the gaps of this trident. The scenario started with Kane’s through ball which Son managed to dribble quickly into the 16 box past the right side of the City defense. After a bit of scuffling, Son was left to face Ederson. But he chose to release a flat pass to Kulu who with one kick, the ball through the net. This goal was almost without the celebration of a 21-year-old youngster who has just scored in a tough league.
While the second goal came from Son’s foresight to see the movement of Harry Kane. Kane’s pass into the box was managed by Kane confirming the conclusion that the crack in the aggressiveness of Pep’s system was the formation of a back four that tended to be late in closing space. Son is the brains of two important assists. But Kane once again showed his class.
I think, in a match that is full of strategies between these two champion coaches, the most dramatic moment is when the position is even. Two are the same. Meanwhile, the game has entered injury time. Just waiting for the whistle to blow. The rest of the time is a critical period. In addition to being physically tired, concentration also decreases. So in the 94th minute, Kulu, who moved from the left side of the City defense, received a pass. With sticky ball control, he then gave a cross to the center of the 16teen box. Again Kane, who had previously had to accept the fact his goal was canceled for offside, grabbed the ball with his head. 2:3 for the Spurs. The goal that made Conte run like a mad dog. While Pep hit the ground as a form of disappointment.
What did Dejan Kulusevski say after this dramatic victory? “It’s amazing, because Conte just wants to win and if he doesn’t win he’s not happy. We worked really hard and that’s what we needed, there’s no other secret. You have to work hard and listen to the coach. If you listen to him you can do well. ” And what does the ex-Inter Milan coach have to say after a tough match he won?
“I’m happy, especially for the players, because we showed big commitment, big belief and it was incredible after the penalty and 2-2, okay, you can say we are happy because 2-2 is a good result against Manchester City, but otherwise. we want to win.” Conte also added, “I think what we have to bring is this desire in every moment of the game. We want to get the three points. I’m happy to see this from my players.”
In other words, a victory against a dominant, aggressive, and top-level Man City team will strengthen self-confidence. Especially also believe in the approach and hard work done so far. In short, this team will still shape itself with Conte’s ideas. This result not only brings 3 points. But the most basic thing is to stop the bad trend.
ASL
