Antonio Conte is no Jose Mourinho – turning the ‘Beautiful Game’ into a trudge of attrition – but it’s interesting to note two weeks before Inter Milan claimed their first Serie A title in more than a decade, Tottenham Hotspur’s new manager was being forced to respond to pitchfork-carrying critics questioning his pragmatism.
“I realised it’s all about me, that’s the basic problem. I don’t mind that, as long as they don’t touch (the) Inter (players),” Conte told Football Italia.
“As we all know, the coach is the first to be criticised when results don’t come. It hasn’t been an easy year for me either.”
At his unveiling as Spurs’ new boss on Wednesday lunchtime, Conte vowed to play “good football and attractive football for our fans” – something neither Jose Mourinho nor the departed Nuno Espirito Santo managed to deliver during underwhelming spells in north London.
But how do you define ”attractive”?
If Spurs supporters were hoping for a return to the glory days of Mauricio Pochettino, when Tottenham would regularly overwhelm their opponents with a relentless high press, probing possession and rapid interplay, they may be disappointed.
Will Antonio Conte be as good as his word at Tottenham Hotspur?
That’s not to say counter-attacking football can’t be thrilling when executed perfectly.
But it must be said that, even during Inter’s best season since the treble-winning campaign of 2009/10, Conte struggled to win over every Nerazzurri supporter with his backs-to-the-wall, bodies-on-the-line, win-at-all-costs approach.
“I have to say this with a heavy heart – they play football badly!” former Inter forward Antonio Cassano said in April after Inter beat Sassuolo with 30 per cent possession and two shots on target.
“If I had such a coach, I would go to the president and ask him to fire him.”
Winning football is “good football” of course. And if Conte can do for Tottenham what he did for Chelsea, Inter and Juventus – ending a trophy drought that now stands at 13 years – few would dare to criticise his methods.
But, regardless of what Conte says, we shouldn’t expect a Pep Guardiola-style revolution in north London either.
Here’s what some supporters on Twitter had to say about the Tottenham unveiling of Antonio Conte:
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