Antonio Conte was not beyond criticism during Tottenham’s wildly inconsistent spell at the start of the year, but the Italian is consistently proving that, unsurprisingly, he knows exactly what he is doing.
Conte was rewarded for sticking to his guns as Spurs thrashed Newcastle 5-1 yesterday to move into the top four with a third straight win, heaping the pressure on rivals Arsenal.
Without injured left wing-backs Ryan Sessegnon and Sergio Reguilon, Conte moved Matt Doherty over from the right and brought in Emerson Royal in a change which threatened to blunt both Spurs’ flanks.
After 40 minutes of yesterday’s game, Conte appeared to have made a costly mis-step, particularly as in-form Steven Bergwijn or Lucas Moura might have offered his side a more exciting option at wing-back or the chance to play with another forward from the off.
Spurs trailed to Fabian Schar’s opportunistic free-kick six minutes before the interval in a game which followed familiar patterns for Conte’s side, who looked short of rhythm after the international break, were struggling to break down stubborn opponents and had conceded a careless set-piece goal.
But this Spurs side is improving with every game and within four minutes of Schar’s strike, Ben Davies glanced home Heung-min Son’s cross to ensure the sides went in level at the interval.
What followed was a devastating attacking display which might be the best 45 minutes of football Spurs have produced since Amsterdam in 2019.
Most pleasing for Conte, aside from the character his players showed, were the contributions of Doherty and Emerson, who justified their selections by scoring, with the wing-backs combining for the Brazilian’s first for the club which made it 4-1.
Conte has come to rely on a small group of players — Emerson for Reguilon was the first change to his XI in four matches — but yesterday was evidence Spurs can lose key men but remain a functioning team.
Conte has built a career on drilling his players to the letter, ensuring each one of them knows what to do, and yesterday’s second half showed the penny has dropped and that the head coach can rotate for the run-in but maintain a competitive side.
That subs Moura and Bergwijn combined for Spurs’ fifth, the Netherlands international following up his three goals for his country last week with a cool finish, added to the sense that Conte’s system has finally clicked.
“Every player knows very well what happens during the game and what they have to do,” Conte said.
Conte is also blessed with outstanding players and Spurs’ riotous second half was inspired by Harry Kane, who assisted Doherty’s goal and was involved in the outstanding team move, finished by Son, which put the hosts two goals clear.
“When the game finished, I went into the pitch to thank my players and I said to Harry, ‘I am only disappointed for one thing, that you didn’t score, because you played a massive game’,” Conte said.
“It is very difficult to describe this player. We are talking about a world-class striker. He is a great worker, a hard worker.”
Arsenal can leapfrog their rivals back into fourth place if they avoid defeat at Crystal Palace tonight, but they will be sitting far less comfortably after yesterday’s result. Mikel Arteta’s side will know there is even less room for error now Spurs are finally playing the Conte way.
