Luis Enrique has emerged as the leading candidate to replace Antonio Conte at Tottenham after Spurs crashed out of the UEFA Champions League.
The Athletic believe the Spaniard is top of Fabio Paratici’s shortlist to replace the 53-year-old in north London, while the likes of Ruben Amorim and Luciano Spalletti are also admired by Spurs.
With the news about Enrique in mind, let’s see what Lionel Messi has said about him in the past.
What’s the story?
Well, Messi worked alongside Enrique at Barcelona from 2014 to 2017, with the pair winning the treble together in the 2014/15 campaign.
The Argentina international remarkably scored 153 goals in 158 appearances under the 52-year-old.
Interestingly – despite a few clashes during their time at the Camp Nou – Messi actually once admitted that Enrique plays more direct attacking football than Pep Guardiola.
Speaking to The Sun about the differences between the two Spaniards, Messi said: “We have not noticed massive changes but, yes, some — in that with Luis maybe now we are a bit more aggressive when we attack at speed, whilst with Pep we used counter attacks less.”
That speaks volumes, given the fact Guardiola’s style of play is still very attacking despite the fact it involves a bit more build-up play through quick passing.
Luis Enrique could get Tottenham firing
Many will look at Enrique’s Spain side, which focused more on a possession based style at the World Cup in 2022, and feel Tottenham do not have the players for that philosophy.
However, as Messi states, the Spaniard can also mix it up and use a counter attacking style, which could work for Spurs with pacey forwards such as Heung-min Son and Richarlison.
Whoever Tottenham choose to replace Conte, they must get it right.
Daniel Levy has made too many poor appointments in recent years, and another could set Spurs back years as the likes of Newcastle begin to gatecrash the top six.
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