Before starting to clear out his desk, Antonio Conte has been itching to get a few things off his chest.
First about the Tottenham fans, impatient and indifferent to the enormity of the task against AC Milan, and about the culture of the club, mired in failure with its losing mentality.
Now the players, selfish and lacking in fire, unable to perform under pressure, heartless and backing down. All the while shielded from guilt by a litany of excuses.
“Being a team is the most important thing,” Conte raged in the midst of his 10-minute tirade after watching his team cede a 3-1 lead to take just one point away from Southampton.
‘To understand we played for the badge. We have to play so that our fans feel proud of us. We have to play to show desire. The first in your eyes to win. If you have this, surely you will not leave the FA Cup. Today you win.
Antonio Conte unleashed an astonishing tirade at Tottenham after their draw with Southampton
Spurs led 3-1 and sailed, but conceded two late goals to tie 3-3 with the 20th-place Saints.
Their comparison of choice was not the Champions League exit against Milan, but the demise of the FA Cup at the hands of Sheffield United, a Championship side that laid several first-team regulars to rest as they prioritized promotion.
In short, Conte believes that Spurs are soft. Giving up against Saints was just the latest example, the last straw.
His is a football philosophy forged during a win-at-all-cost playing career at Juventus, with Giovani Trapattoni and Marcelo Lippi, who demanded total dedication to the cause and worked marginal gains long before the expression was even widely used. popularized by Dave Brailsford. cycling team
Conte has nibbled critically at the culture in English football this season. That he does not consume everything like in Italy. That the executives shut up and the manager is the only public voice, and therefore has full responsibility.
What he didn’t detail was the way this has repercussions in the dressing room, but modern elite players with their very expensive contracts have long since discovered that it is cheaper and simpler to blame and change the manager than to blame and change the team. .
It takes some courage to keep faith with the coach when the team plays twice a week, when results matter so much, and when millions have the means to broadcast their opinions.
Manchester City never wavered in their support for Pep Guardiola despite a difficult first season. Liverpool supported Jurgen Klopp because he was sure he was the right man and, more recently, Arsenal have trusted his instincts with Mikel Arteta.
Maybe Chelsea is going through this process with Graham Potter. And this is a radical change because the modus operandi was very different when Conte arrived at Stamford Bridge in 2016.
The winning attitude was already well entrenched and fueled by the unspoken threat of Roman Abramovich’s trigger finger. At Tottenham, Levy’s nervous finger is on the trigger, but the attitude within the club is very different.
Somehow they embrace the worst of both extremes.
Perhaps this is the root of your point about “fire in the eyes” and “desire.” They don’t know how to win and he does. Guys, it’s Tottenham, and all that and, by their own definition, the board didn’t really get behind it and said we’re all with this guy.
They haven’t stacked his squad with the experienced depth and world-class coverage he wants. Levy also hasn’t been able to break the habit of buying players his manager doesn’t want, like Djed Spence and Arnaut Danjuma.
Conte is right in his multiple complaints, but the Italian coach is not immune to blame.
This Spurs team is your team. Of the 15 who paraded in Southampton, six were signed under his command
Those who interfered with the radio calls on Saturday night were more upset with the ENIC ownership than the manager, though they all accept that Conte’s tenure has come to an end.
His name did not echo from the other end of St Mary’s as it did at Crystal Palace in January.
Once the World Cup break passed without an agreement to extend Conte’s initial 18-month contract, everything indicated that he would leave at the end of the season.
This is a sentiment that is only reinforced by his failing health and the need for some time off to recuperate after an operation to remove his gallbladder in early February, and with his wife and daughter still living in Italy.
Since then, consciously or not, the players have settled in to go through the motions and wait for the next appointment. Perhaps it will be one to better suit them. Maybe Mauricio Pochettino will come back. Perhaps everyone has forgotten how his pleasant reign ended bitterly.
So Conte is right, and yet he is not immune from blame. He was brought in at considerable expense in a contract worth £13 million a year with a huge army of staff to sort this all out. Don’t take a look, shrug and call it impossible, and walk away.
This team is your team. Of the 15 who walked the Southampton parade, six were signed by him and, with the exception of Pedro Porro, all have worked under him throughout the season.
Three came under Conte’s predecessor, Nuno Espirito Santo, with managing director Fabio Paratici in charge of recruiting.
Conte trusts Paratici’s judgement, so is he really questioning the attitude of Harry Kane, Son Heung-min, Pierre Emile Hojbjerg, Oliver Skipp, Ben Davies and Eric Dier?
What if Pape Sarr hadn’t kicked past Ainsley Maitland-Niles on 90 minutes and James Ward-Prowse hadn’t converted the penalty to make it 3-3 and save a point for the Saints? Would it have started with the same ferocity?
Tottenham also crashed out of the FA Cup to Sheffield United in tame fashion with a 1-0 defeat
Spurs president Daniel Levy is likely to be looking for a new manager in the coming months.
Have you done it to sharpen minds with 10 to play, as you did last season after the loss at Burnley? Or is it a move to speed up the exit from him?
Bookmakers slashed the odds of his dismissal on the grounds that his future at work is untenable after such a brutal verbal attack on his players, and there is logic behind the push for change during this international recess if Levy is sure it improves Tottenham’s chances of winning. finishing in the top four.
Champions League status is worth tens of millions and the sacking of José Mourinho to replace him with caretaker boss Ryan Mason six days before the League Cup final did not go down particularly well for the Spurs chairman.
This is where Levy finds himself again. If he has the next coach in mind, that person would rather start in the summer than step in now with the fragile-looking fourth place.