Can Antonio Conte break Tottenham’s trophy drought
By Callum Patrick
Since the arrival of Antonio Conte in November 2021 Tottenham have secured a return to the UEFA Champions League and have been very consistent. At the end of the 2020/21 Premier League season, Ryan Mason had finished his time as interim manager after the sacking of Jose Mourinho in April 2021 on the same day the European Super League proposal was announced.
At the end of that season Spurs approached Antonio Conte to come to the club before the season started, however he had recently just finished his time with Inter Milan winning the Scudetto for the 4th time in his managerial career. Still having regrets over ending his time at Inter he decided not to come to the North London side during the summer. Therefore Spurs, had to settle for former Wolves boss Nuno Espírito Santo. His reign as Tottenham manager started off perfectly win a 1-0 win over reigning Champions Manchester City, following wins over Wolves and Aston Villa. However, things slowly took a sour turn with Nuno’s play style being heavily criticised with players not playing and wanting to leave the club. Players like Harry Kane had desired to leave the club in search for winning trophies, however the club stayed firm and ensured he was not for sale.
Image courtesy of Clément Bucco-Lechat - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:20150616_Antonio_Conte.jpg
After heavy defeats to Arsenal in the North London derby and Manchester United the Tottenham hierarchy realised it was time for a change and they approached Antonio Conte once again in which he agreed an 18-month contract with the option to extend for a further year. This was a huge statement by Tottenham, this was the appointment they should have made during the summer but didn’t and have regretted it massively. Now they have him as their manager Tottenham must invest in the team and give him what he needs to secure another top 4 finish and end the trophy drought.
Antonio Conte was very successful the last time he managed in the Premier League with Chelsea as he won the Premier League in 2016/17 season and the FA Cup in the 2017/18 season. Tottenham fans will be hoping he can use his tactical genius and unique playing style to break the 15-year drought Tottenham have had since their last trophy.
Tottenham’s last trophy came nearly 15 years ago in the League Cup final with a 2-1 win in extra time against Chelsea. Since them Tottenham have lost 2 league cup finals, 2 FA Cup semi-finals, missed out on the Premier League and lost a Champions League final, resulting in a very negative mentality when it comes to winning football matches. A lot has happened since the 2008 League Cup Final and one of the main differences is the stadium Tottenham are playing in. In 2017 Tottenham said goodbye to the old ‘White Hart Lane’ and began construction for their new one-billion-pound stadium, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
This state-of-the-art stadium was built to help Tottenham be up there with Europe’s elite best and compete for the top trophies in the country and in the continent. However, with the club having not won a major trophy since 2008 is the new stadium going to have any effect on the players… The stadium will no doubt bring in a larger amount of gate receipts as the capacity of the stadium is far bigger than the old stadium as well it should entice greater players to come to the club to play in front of a larger crowd as well as in a modern world class stadium.
This should be of use to the new boss Antonio Conte as he prepares his new squad for the games before the World Cup halts the season midway. Since Conte’s arrival he has already brought in fresh young players like Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur. Two players he knows well from managing in Italy. However, Conte demands investment from the Tottenham hierarchy, which is something previous managers have not been given, resulting in difficulties for managers to produce a winning squad that can compete for the major trophies. Spurs fans will be hoping Conte’s resume can help the current structure at Tottenham and entice the hierarchy to back him in the transfer markets to get the players he needs to make this Tottenham side competitive and compete for trophies because the club needs it if they want to be one of the biggest clubs in the country.