Spurs have formed a resurgence on the pitch as well as off it since former Inter boss Antonio Conte arrived in north London, according to Fabrizio Romano.
After Spurs’ latest 4-0 thrashing of Aston Villa, they now occupy the final Champions League spot, sitting three points clear of fifth place. This upturn in form is largely down to new boss Conte who has seemingly worked his magic again and turned around the north London club.
Since the start of March, they have won five of their six games and have managed to score over three goals on four occasions – netting four once and five twice in this time. This is a huge step forward from the beginning of the season under Nuno Espirito Santo, who won 1-0 on three occasions and 3-0 twice within his first five games.
The Italian manager has turned around the form of players like Harry Kane and Matt Doherty, while the introduction of January signings Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur has made the squad “more complete“, according to Conte.
However, it has not just been on the pitch where their form has changed, according to Romano, who spoke on the Que Golazo podcast, stating that he has also changed the atmosphere in the dressing room which is “perfect” for players like Kane.
He said: “I’m told that into the dressing room, the atmosphere is completely, completely different – thanks to Antonio. Because with Antonio Conte, you have to go with his mentality, or you’re out of the team. It’s so simple. And when you have top players like Harry Kane, for example, to see this kind of approach from the manager, this is the perfect match.”
TIF Thoughts on Conte’s impact…
Since Conte’s arrival, Spurs have found more consistency in their play, as out of his 29 games in charge, they have only lost nine while winning 17 and drawing three (Transfermarkt). As mentioned above, he has rejuvenated the season for Kane and most of the squad, who looked to have taken a step back under Espirito Santo, as they won just eight of 17 games under him.
We have seen this plenty of times before with Conte’s teams. In his first Premier League spell with Chelsea, he turned them from a team that finished 10th the season prior into champions of England in one season. Last season with Inter he regained their glory, winning their first Serie A title in a decade and left them in great stead to continue this success.
Romelu Lukaku, who played under Conte at Inter, hailed the Italian as the man who “changed” him as a player and made him “stronger mentally”. So it is easy to see how Conte has changed this Spurs team for the better because he has done it everywhere else.
Under Conte, Spurs have a real chance at success, probably for the first time since Mauricio Pochettino left. They need to make sure they do not waste this opportunity.