Once Antonio Conte’s teams take off, it can be very difficult to stop them.
In the 2016/17 title-winning season at Chelsea, the Blues never looked back having risen to the top, staying there from November to the end of that season setting records.
Prior to that at Juventus, Conte had won the title in each of his three seasons. In the first match, Juventus spent just one week outside the top two.
In the second round, they finished every round of matches in first place except for the opening weekend.
Antonio Conte finally got a tune from Spurs but it took a while
Tottenham are now on top of the top four with just seven matches left in the Premier League
In his final year, it was Juventus’ top from November with a record 102-point lead as Conte won the Scudetto again.
When he returned to the Italian football club in 2019, Conte laid the foundations in his first year at Inter.
The next day, Inter started moving in November again, holding second place until February, and once they advanced to first place, they didn’t give up, ending Juventus’ nine-year dominance of Serie A, winning their first Serie A For the Nerazzurri at 11. years.
Since he hasn’t been afraid to shine since taking charge of Spurs, chasing titles is what Conte is all about, not the top four.
It’s usually hard to stop Conte teams once they’ve taken off and history can repeat itself
But nevertheless, with a different goal, history has begun to repeat itself with the Spurs team now gathering a growing momentum that has seen them overtake their rivals, in this case, for the last place in the Champions League.
Conte had to lower his sights for a season, but given the timing of his arrival and the strength of the competition leading Spurs back into elite competition in Europe it would still be an important achievement.
It has taken time for Conte to see the signs his side are heading in the right direction, given the ways that have brought him such success and understanding his preferred system for the Leak to Spurs but there is mitigation.
It is interesting to wonder where Spurs arrived last summer, as they had initially hoped, and not when they finally arrived.
Morale was on the ground when Kunti arrived and he had no immediate effect
Spurs were inconsistent as they struggled for speed in many competitions
Conte wasn’t hired until November and was immediately playing catch-up.
Spurs were eighth when he arrived and the morale of the team he inherited was on the ground after being drained by Nuno Espirito Santo.
It is preferable to start work in the summer because the foundations laid in the pre-season are necessary for its work.
Conte places great emphasis on fitness as was emphasized almost immediately by the shift in Spurs’ running stats after his arrival, from the league’s lowest to the highest.
He also brought with him three fitness coaches – Costantino Corati, Gian Piero Ventroni and Stefano Bruno – to supplement the club’s existing Sports Science team. Nono only had one.
Conte has raised the team’s fitness and they now have the best running stats in the league
He has three fitness trainers – including Gian Piero Vetroni (left) and Costantino Corati (right)
It wasn’t easy getting his players up to the pace he demanded when Spurs were in their first two months still in Europe and the Carabao Cup, their busy schedule hampering Conte’s attempts to get into the level of detail he loves and off the training pitch.
Daily video analysis sessions are part of his approach along with fine details on the lawn.
This is much easier to do when it can be spread out over a week rather than crammed into a couple of days.
And the correlation between the results, Tottenham’s best performance and the time for which Conte had to prepare was no coincidence.
Although he may not say it publicly, there is an upside to his expulsion from the Europa League – more time to train his players – despite the annoyance of the circumstances that led to UEFA’s controversial decision.
It’s no coincidence that Conte’s players performed better after their exit from both cup tournaments
He has also improved the offerings by offering daily video analysis sessions at Hotspur Way
The closing of the transfer window was another key point. After grumbling in exasperation during January, his ending meant there was little Conte could gain in expressing his frustration or concerns about the transfers.
He had the team that he had no other chance of changing which resulted in clarity and Conti was mellow, at least a little bit.
This was helped by the fact that he was able to clear the floors a bit by letting go of players he felt were not going in the right direction and bringing in two players – Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevsky – who laid out his plans perfectly.
It was still a tough period to navigate with Spurs fluctuating between wins and defeats for a while, but even in some of the setbacks Conte found cause for encouragement.
Tottenham’s defeat to Manchester United was one such occasion when the team was the better overall at Old Trafford, and only a ruthless display from Cristiano Ronaldo denied them deserving of the reward.
Conte keeps asking for more Tottenham stars and they keep responding
And it was such an improvement that Conte discovered he was confident enough to state publicly and privately that he would like to see how his side would now deal with Chelsea, who beat Spurs on three separate occasions in January.
As Conte has continued to demand more and more of his players since then, they have continued to respond. Better results and screens were a key factor in Conte continuing to secure this purchase.
Of course, it also helps to have three wonderful moms like Harry Kane, Son Heung-min, and Kolosevsky leading your team.
Coming together, they immediately garnered success, their shimmering form serving as the basis for Spurs’ improved performance and leaving their Champions League prospects looking bright.
Likewise, Conte’s past bodes well for Spurs’ future as well.
