The Italian steadied the ship last season and now looks to make more progress after being backed in the transfer market
Things were looking bleak at the beginning of November last year at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Newly appointed manager Nuno Espirito Santo wasn't able to replicate the success he'd had at Wolves and results were dire in Europe and domestically. That was until the Portuguese was relieved of his duties on 1 November and replaced the very next day by Antonio Conte. The Italian arrived with a justifiably big reputation, as a former Premier League winner with Chelsea and multiple time Serie A winner with Juventus and inter.
Conte arrived and made a huge impact as was expected. He dragged Spurs up the table and into fourth spot, securing their return to the UEFA Champions League, after the humilation of slumping out of this season's inaugural UEFA Europa Conference League. This was a big step for the club, one which would help make them more attractive to potential incoming players. Conte, backed by the club financially this summer, and flanked by his old confidante Fabio Paratici, wasted no time in making signings. Since the start of the window, The Lilywhites have brought in experienced winger Ivan Perisic from Inter, very talented Brighton midfielder Yves Bissouma, Everton striker Richarlison and Southampton goalkeeper Fraser Forster. It's been a huge window so far for Tottenham.
With Conte at the helm, and the squad getting some much needed rejuvination, Spurs fans are rightly optimistic about the upcoming campaign. The Italian worked wonders in the second half of last season, despite being thrown in mid way through. Soon he will be able to complete a full pre-season training camp with his charges and this should enable him to properly implement his tactical approach to the campaign.
The feeling among the Spurs faithful now seems much more optimistic than it did heading into last season. Fans are rightly excited to see their new signings in action and hopeful of a successful campaign under their very talented and decorated head coach.
We wanted to get some further insight into how Spurs fans are feeling right now. Are there any doubts going into this campaign? Are things not as rosy as they seem from the outside? To find out, we spoke to Mike Leigh from The Spurs Show and Jake from Hotspur Lane to get the inside track on how it feels to be a Tottenham fan right now.
Q. How would you evaluate Antonio Conte's first season in charge at Spurs?
Mike: Conte's not even first full season at Spurs was a success. He took a team low in confidence and belief to a Champions League qualification place, which looked beyond us right up to our re-arranged home game against 'The Woolwich Wanderers', who we dispatched quite easily. Even then we still needed other results to go our way and the Woolwich implosion a few days later at St James' Park effectively sealed our Top 4 place.
Q. Which players do you think benefitted most from the Italian's arrival in London?
Jack: Conte’s arrival was huge for the club on so many levels. Lots of players saw an upturn in performances alongside a overhaul of our playing hierarchy. Obviously there was Harry Kane who by all means had a slow start to the season prior to his arrival but the second half of the season his numbers picked up and performances away against Manchester City and Liverpool were the most complete I’ve seen from him in a Tottenham shirt. Ben Davies deserves a mention too, he was a forgotten man at one point but now revitalised in a new role at left centre back, with Conte speaking highly of him on many occasions.
Q. What did you make of the January signings Kulucevski and Bentancur?
Mike: The Jan signings felt underwhelming at the time as we were once again linked with everyone as usual and appeared to miss out on our two top choices in Traore and Diaz who went to Barca and Liverpool instead. Conte and Paratici's knowledge of the two incomings were inspired as they slotted straight into the first team and hit the ground running. Apart from a few blips, we never looked back
Q. Heading into the new season, the club has already made several signings. How do you rate the business done so far?
Jack: This summer has been a first! The holes in the squad have been identified. First came Perisic to play left wing back after Conte seemingly exiled Reguilon during the season. At 33, the move is being questioned but I do believe he will surprise people working under Conte again. He was a standout for Inter last year and scored a brace in the Italian Cup final which suggests there’s still a top level left in him.
Fraser Forster has come in as a new back up goalkeeper to replace Gollini who’s returned to Atalanta, there's nothing much to say but nice that he’s another homegrown quota player.
Yves Bissouma is somebody #thfc fans are expecting a lot from, it means Conte now has four midfielders to choose from after losing confidence in Harry Winks. He seems to have a lot of attributes of a top midfielder and many clubs reportedly liked him for a long time.
Richarlison is a big one, we finally seem to have our back-up striker to Harry Kane whilst being able to play all across the front. He seems well suited to Conte-ball with a good work rate and aggressive attitude. With UCL games and five substitutes in the Premier League from now on, I am expecting a relatively big contribution from him.
There’s s few more positions to go if we want to address every area of our squad such as another left centre back for competition and a new right wing back to replace Emerson Royal but it's probably best not to do it all in one year I think. Patience and the right players are key.
Q. To what extent should the club now focus on outgoings? Are there any players who should be moved on, in your opinion?
Mike: I suspect Winks will be moved on and Ndombele, Gil and Lo Celso finally too. Joe Rodon could be another one who goes, which is a shame as he never really got a chance when the Dier, Romero and Davies partnership worked so well.
Q. Next season will see a return to the Champions League for Spurs. How far do you think this team can go in the competition?
Jack: It’s very hard to say, I never in my wildest dreams thought I would see my club in a Champions League final but it happened. I would be happy with a quarter final appearance this year. We should try to consolidate our position in the competition again for a couple of years before we are in a position to try to achieve anything more.
Q. Are there any young players who could make their breakthrough into the first team next season?
Mike: I don't see many youngsters like Devine and Scarlett making a massive breakthrough next season as Conte looks to have two experienced players for every position. In saying that, young Skipp looked an ever present until injury last season but the new signing Bissouma will probably get the nod as Conte rotates Højbjerg, Bentacur, Bissouma and Skipp. The youngsters will probably be used for the League Cup games as we go all out for the League and the Champions League this season. We probably won't have a better chance in a while with Conte finally getting a pre season with players he wants and now serious back up to Kane and more bite in midfield. Lenglet as a new centre back will give us even more experience and now we have a decent back up to Lloris, us Spurs fans are rightly excited for next season.
8. What do you think would represent a positive campaign in the eyes of the average Spurs fan? What are your realistic expectations going into the 2022/23 campaign?
Jack: You always want to see progress, right? So naturally I think every Tottenham fan at a minimum would like to see us consolidate our Champions League spot whilst trying to take that 3rd place from Chelsea. Who knows? Maybe a long awaited trophy in there too!
Spurs fans won't have to wait too long now to see their side back in action. Tottenham begin their pre-season with a friendly in Seoul against a K-League X1. Their Korean star Son Heung-Min is sure to be a very popular player during that game. They then face Sevilla, Rangers and Roma in friendlies across South Korea and Europe, before starting their Premier League campaign at home to Southampton on 6 August.
We want to feature fans like you!
For more fan-centric content like this, as well as daily football news and updates, please go ahead and follow Sporticos on Twitter. We want to interview leaders, influencers, representatives and most of all fans, to get their perspectives on the clubs they love. This content is really important to us and we hope you will continue to support it with likes, retweets and all that good stuff. If you want to contribute your thoughts about your club, please do get in touch.
Stay up-to-date with all things football at Sporticos
We provide data, stats and analysis of games from across the world; a comprehensive TV guide which tells you exactly when and where you can watch your favourite teams in action; trusted, legal sources of live streaming, breaking news and so much more.
Check out our football live streams and football predictions.
