Tim Sherwood has urged fans to be patient with Antonio Conte, as he feels ‘there will be grumblings’ following Tottenham Hotspur’s defeat in the north London derby.
The former midfielder used Jose Mourinho as an example and how he felt the now-Roma coach tried to change things up, to play more attractive, in north London, but he ended up getting booted out.
To the eye, Conte’s style of play has never been pretty and never will be.
The Italian has won trophies wherever he has gone from Turin to Stamford Bridge, but he has always done it his way and his way only.
Sometimes it’s not pretty on the eye and it can frustrate the fans, but at the end of the day, he gets the job done.
There is no doubt fans will still back Conte regardless of the weekend result, as Sherwood shared his thoughts on Conte, his style of play and made the comparison between Mourinho and Mauricio Pochettino, as he told Premier League Productions.
“The goodwill will soon go as soon as they start losing games,” said Sherwood. “Like emotional games like this one, they start losing derbies, they start listening to the phone-ins and social media.
“There will be grumblings now ‘how can we play in the derby, there was no passion, they didn’t try’. Well, they did and they stuck to their game plan.
“The game plan wasn’t to run around and push high and try to win the ball. Get that fire in their belly. It was just to soak up pressure and counter-attack, exactly how they got the penalty and exactly how they have been playing all season.
“(Conte will say), Pochettino played that way, but he didn’t win. Listen, guys, I am going to teach you how to win’. He wins at every club he goes to, so we have to give him a chance to do it his way. He won’t change for anyone.
“Whereas Jose Mourinho tried to tweak it, when he heard the grumblings from the fans and how they need to play more attractive football. He tried to tweak. It’s not what he wanted to do. It didn’t work out and they ended up getting rid of him.”
TROPHY OR NO TROPHY?
That’s the main aim for Conte and Spurs fans won’t care one jot how their no-nonsense coach gets there.
Yes, he has a history of being in jobs for very little time and causing chaos as he heads for the exit door.
But if Conte can put a couple of trophies in Tottenham’s cabinet, then leave in next to no time and a heap of mess behind him, then fans would take that ugly nature as long as there is glory at the end.
It’s not helpful that you lose to your local rivals, but it also needs to be remembered that it was Tottenham’s first defeat of the season.
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