According to Il Messaggero, Tottenham Hotspur are interested in the idea of replacing Antonio Conte with Maurizio Sarri.
Interestingly, this wouldn’t be the first time in Conte’s career where Sarri has followed him into a job.
Sarri was his direct replacement at Chelsea after he left Stamford Bridge in 2018, while Sarri also inherited the spine of his Juventus side in 2019 when he swapped London for Turin.
The change from Conte to Sarri is drastic, but some players have gone on the record to compare the two in the past.
One player who was very open about preferring Sarri to Conte was Antonio Rudiger. The German claimed, via the Daily Mail, that Sarri’s style is ‘much better’ than Conte’s.
Rudiger prefers Sarri
The German spoke about the Italian during his time at Chelsea.
“I played for Roma in Italy so I knew the way the manager liked to play and it was something I favoured. He wants us to press high compared to last season when everyone knows we sat back,” explained Rudiger.
“Now it is different. We create a lot of chances and for me that’s very good. Mostly he likes the defenders to play the ball short and keep possession. I have shown so far I can do it but I want to improve every day. He is a coach who is not happy, he is always saying you can do better, and that keeps you alive.”
Shot in the arm
If there’s one thing Spurs probably need right now, it’s a change of style.
Conte’s system not only isn’t getting results, it’s also producing some incredibly boring football.
As Rudiger said back in 2018, Sarri is different to Conte and his style does lead to greater chance creation, and perhaps that’s the direction Spurs want to go in next.
Tottenham fans need to be entertained again, and Sarri would perhaps bring that element of fun back to north London.
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