Gian Piero Ventrone's indelible impact
The context behind this Tottenham Hotspur victory made it all the more impressive on Saturday evening.
On a normal night to have take home all three points and a clean sheet from the Amex Stadium, a place that has brought some sticky moments for Spurs over the years, would have been a good result. To do so against a Brighton team that has been flying high this season and had not lost at home yet, it would been an excellent result.
However, to put in such a professional performance just over 48 hours after the shock death of Gian Piero Ventrone made it a remarkable result and it was also a fitting testament to the work the popular 61-year-old has done in preparing these young players not only physically but also mentally with his advice in how to cope with life.
READ MORE: Every word Antonio Conte said in emotional Gian Piero Ventrone tribute and on Spurs squad pride
The renowned World Cup-winning fitness coach did not speak perfect English but he always got his message across, even if that meant using his phone and Google Translate, which would only raise a further smile from those he spoke to.
Ventrone taught the players to push themselves beyond their limits on and off the pitch and he was always enquiring about the lives of not only the squad, but staff around the club, checking people were okay. The players called him 'Prof', short for his nickname over the decades of 'Professor Marine'.
When one Spurs player suffered the loss of a family member, the affable Italian was there waiting for him as he arrived at Hotspur Way the next morning. He grabbed him by the arm, hugged him and led him through to Antonio Conte's office. Every player has their own Ventrone story, despite him only being in their lives for just 10 months.
Behind the scenes, Ventrone's kindness to others masked his own battle. He had been suffering from leukaemia for some time, but it was being managed. When he told Conte ahead of the North London Derby that he was suffering from a fever and felt he should stay at home, few people thought too much of it. Ventrone's main concern was that he did not want to miss training.
He went back home to his doctors in his hometown of Napoli to get things checked out and missed the trip to the Emirates Stadium and then the flight to Frankfurt just 48 hours later. His absence was felt by everyone but it was only after the final whistle in Germany on Tuesday night that Conte learned that Ventrone's health had taken a serious downward turn.
Spurs returned to Stansted Airport on a flight the following morning and later that night Ventrone died. Shocked and wrought with emotion, Conte had to deliver the news to the players first thing on Thursday morning.
Nobody could focus that day, training was cancelled and it was only on Friday that the players were able to start preparing properly for the match at Brighton, making the result all the more remarkable.
Conte, Spurs chairman Daniel Levy and managing director of football Fabio Paratici as well as the coaching staff were to fly out on Sunday morning to attend the funeral in Napoli at the small church of San Luigi Gonzaga, a building which looks out over a stunning view of Mount Vesuvius.
They are all set to return to the club later the same day. There had been some thoughts about the squad travelling for the funeral but the logistics involved in doing so, not to mention the security element, soon rendered that impossible.
The players will pay their respects in their own ways and the emotion was clear on all of their faces before and after the game. The minute's applause ahead of kick-off had many holding back the tears and Conte, who knew Ventrone for around 30 years, could not keep them within as the Tottenham supporters sang the fitness coach's name in tribute and held up Italian flags, the Brighton fans applauding as well out of respect.
After the game, captain Hugo Lloris walked along in front of the magnificent travelling Spurs fans holding up a Tottenham shirt with the letters 'Gian Piero' on the back. The supporters sang 'There's only one Gian Piero' in response and the emotional Frenchmen patted his hand to his chest over his heart before applauding them in return.
Ventrone meant so much to the players. Trying to hold back his emotions, Matt Doherty admitted in his club interview after the game: "It's been tough, Gian Piero brought a smile to all of our faces, no matter whatever mood you were in, whenever you saw him. You couldn't help but have a joke with him or give him a hug and then everything else was alright. We're really going to miss him and it's been a tough week.
"My kids came with to pick me up from the training ground the other day, I think it was the Wednesday before the Arsenal game and Gian Piero was behind us. My kids said 'Daddy, is that your friend?'. Normally you'd say 'that's one of the coaches', but no I said 'yeah that is one of my friends'. That's what he was to us. He was more than a coach. He was a friend, he texted me when I was away on international duty. It's been pretty tough for all of us."
Conte was more devastated than anyone, having lost a friend of three decades who had been a constant in his career from his playing days at Juventus, through his early years as a coach and then alongside him in his latest English adventure.
The Spurs head coach delivered a press conference that was heavy with sorrow and lingering shock but also clear and well-spoken affection for his long-time confidante.
"I have to be honest. It was really, really difficult for us to be focused on the game because what happened in the last three days was incredible," Conte told football.london . "I knew that the situation was really problematic after the game against Frankfurt, but no one would expect this situation because no one knew something about his illness.
"It was an illness but under control, and then… it is very difficult because this situation hit me a lot on the emotional aspect. When this happens, it is very different to cover your feelings with the players, with the people that work in Tottenham.
"At the same time, I have seen a lot of solidarity, the players were really devastated by the pain, and the whole Tottenham environment, the feeling was really, really bad because, in only ten months, I think Gian Piero went through the heart of everybody. They appreciated it because we are talking about a really big worker, for me, my opinion in his job he is a scientist."
He added: "I spoke with him last week on Thursday, the last time when I arrived at the training ground he wanted to speak with me and to ask to stay at home because he had a bit of a fever.
"It was incredible because he was really, really worried about missing training and I said 'Gian Piero, we are talking about your health', and that moment, he told me about his illness. I said 'This is your health, you have to try to have the right checks and don't worry'. His first problem was about missing training!
"For this reason, I think he was in the heart of every single player. My players were really devastated by the pain, but in life, sometimes, many situations happen, not only to us but to many people. Life sometimes is not good.
"At the same time, you have to try to cope with this situation in the best possible way, and it has to be so for his family, for his wife Cinzia, his son Ivan and daughter Martina, and then I'm sure that Gian Piero will stay with us forever, forever, I'm sure about this."
Ventrone was a remarkable man and after their performance in his memory Conte told his Tottenham players that he was proud to call himself their coach.
Their former fitness coach's career was spent preparing players for what came next. His loss leaves a huge hole at the club, but the lessons he imparted about football and life will remain with the squad forever.
Working wing-backs
On the pitch, Conte made four changes to his Tottenham team and two of the most important ones came with his wing-backs.
Ryan Sessegnon returned at left wing-back for his first start since the match against Leicester before the international and he continued his unbeaten record this season in the line-up. When the 22-year-old has been named in the starting XI by Conte this season Spurs have won four times and draw once, at Stamford Bridge.
Conte has high hopes for the England U21 international and has been impressed by his ability to take on his tactical instructions. It's no coincidence that Sessegnon has been trusted to start and excelled in the big matches against the likes of Chelsea, Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal either side of the summer. Spurs only lost once when he started in those Premier League games, the 2-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge nine months ago.
This latest display against in-form Brighton was among his most impressive and earned him Sky Sports' man of the match award. The young wide man got the full 90 minutes under his belt and spent them motoring up and down the left-hand side.
He worked hard in defence, forming a solid partnership with the returning Ben Davies and he got into plenty of good positions in the Brighton half, firing in some low teasing, dangerous crosses that were deserving of better runs from his team-mates.
One deeper cross brought a volley from Doherty on the other flank that bounced over the crossbar but provided a reminder of what Conte's system looks like when it has working natural wing-backs.
For all of Emerson Royal's defensive strengths, Conte's system has looked at its best since he arrived when it has had Doherty on the right.
With Emerson, it's like having a blocked pipe within a pressurised system. His narrow section is clogged up at the end (the halfway line) and it simply forces the water (attacks) to head back and predictably down another side. Have two of the right type of pipe sections on either side and the water [chances] will flow along both ends.
Doherty looked rusty, understandable for a man making his first competitive start since April 9, the day a poor Matty Cash tackle ended his season. The Irishman had been flying - in the best form of his tenure so far at Tottenham - but that was brought to an abrupt halt with a tear to his medial collateral ligament.
Even after recovering he still felt pain in his knee in the months after and then had Conte repeatedly declaring in public, most recently on Monday, that this was not the Doherty of last season.
This first start in almost exactly half a year at the Amex Stadium brought a chance to prove the Italian wrong. Yes, his early touches were rusty but his movement was excellent, always providing an outlet down the right.
That he also got 90 minutes under his belt will have been a major confidence boost for Doherty and one moment late on provided a vital involvement that would have gone a long way to winning back plenty of Conte's trust.
In the final minutes, Brighton had worked Leandro Trossard into space in the Spurs box and from eight yards out the Belgian looked set to strike a first time shot into the net past Lloris. However, out of nowhere, Doherty, despite any fatigue, flew into an inch-perfect tackle to prevent the Seagulls attacker's effort getting away from his boot.
It was such a good tackle at such a vital moment that Eric Dier came over and wrapped his arms around the Republic of Ireland international in a delighted bear hug.
Emerson is likely to come back in against Frankfurt but Doherty did enough to suggest to Conte that he is getting sharper again with the minutes on offer and he will hope to start both of the next two Premier League matches against Everton and Manchester United.
It's important that the Irishman gets the time to continue the journey back to where he was last season as Conte's number one right wing-back. The Italian's whole system might just depend on it.
The 3-5-2 going forward and Yves Bissouma
The fans have been calling for Conte to switch to a 3-5-2 after seeing it in action in the final stages of the victory against Leicester.
He teased its return ahead of the two subsequent matches but it was not until Spurs made the journey south to Brighton that the Italian finally brought it back. It made sense to hand Yves Bissouma his second start against his old club on a pitch he knows like the back of his hand.
For the first half an hour at least, the formation was a huge improvement. Spurs were in control against their in-form hosts and had shots on goal from Son, Bentancur and Doherty before Harry Kane steered home Son's cross for what ended up as the match-winning goal.
Erling Haaland's incredible 15-goal start to Premier League life has overshadowed the fact that Kane, known for his slow starts to campaigns, already has eight goals to his name from his past eight matches - his joint best start to a Premier League season.
The 29-year-old is now nine goals away reaching 200 in the Premier League and is 10 off going level with Jimmy Greaves' record of 266 goals for Spurs.
Spurs' performance became more workmanlike after that point, although they had further chances in the second half and had Kane and Son been more clinical the result could have been more emphatic and prevented Brighton's late pressure.
However the 3-5-2 had already shown its promise, while handing Richarlison some rest on the bench until later in the game and giving Conte more firepower among his substitutes.
The system freed up the wing-backs and also brought more out of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Rodrigo Bentancur with Bissouma taking up a role behind them.
Bissouma, like Doherty, was rusty in parts and added another needless early yellow card after starting a match, this time for a late challenge. On this occasion, unlike at West Ham, he did better in still contributing while walking the tightrope after the booking and did not let it impact his game, making some good defensive interceptions.
The Mali international is another who needs game time to sharpen up as he is still far from the player who bossed Premier League games in the Seagulls' midfield as one of the top players in the competition in recent years, but this was an encouraging start along his path back.
Alongside him Bentancur had a mixed game, blending some excellent moments with the ball with some sloppy passing and dribbling on the edge of his own box as the game wore on, having the lowest pass success rate of the midfield trio.
Hojbjerg was on song throughout though. The Dane deftly got the ball back to Son in the build-up to Kane's goal and he spent the match driving up and down the pitch, linking up well in passing triangles with his team-mates as well as making plenty of intercepting headers and covering for wandering wing-backs and the ever charging forward Cristian Romero.
So persistent was Hojbjerg's pressing across the pitch that he almost scored with a block that flew inches wide of the Brighton goal.
The midfielder is also an organiser, one of the team's leaders, and he had no hesitation in shouting at Son in the first half to stop chatting to Kane and get back into position to prepare for a Brighton goal kick.
Son had looked more comfortable back in his strike partnership with Kane as he did when the 3-5-2 was used in the second half against Leicester. He was constantly dangerous in the first half for Tottenham in the Amex Stadium, grabbing that assist and in the second half he curled another delightful shot home, only to be flagged offside.
There were still a few moments when the South Korean got caught in possession with simple passes that if played would have put team-mates through on goal, but as his confidence returns so will those instinctive passes.
The switch to a 3-5-2 was a success on the whole for Conte and it will give him food for thought for the games ahead and he will also give Oliver Skipp minutes in the formation.
Spurs' start to the season has brought 20 points from the first nine games with just one defeat. Only once have they bettered that start in the Premier League, with 21 points in the 2018/19 season under Mauricio Pochettino, although they lost two matches in those opening nine games, winning seven.
Amid the emotion of the occasion, this was an important victory for Conte's men in front of their noisy travelling fans. It has been a cruel week at Tottenham Hotspur but the players responded in the only way they knew how.
"I'm really proud of my players because I said to them I know that before having good players, I have really good persons," said Conte. "Many times I repeated this concept. I think in these circumstances, they showed to be really important persons because I know I tried not to push them to play this game.
"Many times we tried to find the motivation to push these players and to create a situation and increase the tension. Today honestly, I did nothing under this aspect. I left them to face the situation, and they showed me to be really good people, top men. I said to them just now that I'm proud to be the coach of this team."
READ NEXT:
Tottenham player ratings: Kane missing final touch, Lloris kicking poor and quiet Richarlison
- Antonio Conte's contract situation with Tottenham explained and how it affects Juventus links
Fabio Paratici appoints ex-Real Madrid scout as Spurs' new-look backroom structure takes shape
- Behind the scenes of irked Conte press conference and unfortunate Djed Spence and Doherty moment
- What happened when the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium paid tribute to the Queen and new King
