Oddly, perhaps the most important juncture for Antonio Conte’s Tottenham was the Covid outbreak which struck down the squad in December.
Spurs were forced to call off their final Europa Conference League group game against Rennes and UEFA subsequently handed the French side a 3-0 win, eliminating Spurs from the competition.
Conte was furious when he learned of the situation, storming through the corridors at Hotspur Way, cursing UEFA and demanding an appeal. The head coach, not unreasonably, believed Spurs were among the favourites to win the competition and were being robbed of their only realistic route to silverware this season, given the difficulty of beating Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea to one of the domestic cups.
The club told Conte they would explore an appeal but, privately, the view from the boardroom was that it would be pointless. Some senior figures were also conscious that the ruling, while frustrating, could be a blessing in disguise, given they had hired one of the world’s foremost training-ground coaches.
It has taken a while, but that is now proving the case, with Spurs having won seven of their past nine League fixtures and Conte adamant that having more time between matches is the biggest reason for their turnaround.
“To have more days to prepare the games for me was really important,” Conte said, not for the first time, after Saturday’s 4-0 win over Aston Villa. “Because, don’t forget, I arrived at Tottenham in November and during the season you have to bring your idea of football and at the same time you have to play for three points.”
In other words, Conte was initially faced with trying to teach his players his philosophy and get them up to speed physically and tactically all while they recovered from and prepared for high-pressure matches every few days. With more time between games, Conte has been able to steep his players in his brand of football and there is a sense that something clicked around the end of February, when Spurs’ schedule eased.
Conte is renowned for knowing how to use the stick, but the new schedule has enabled him to employ the carrot, too. Before the Villa game, for example, the Italian promised his players an extra day off — yesterday as well as Sunday — if they won, prompting Harry Kane to confidently arrange a whistle-stop trip to the Masters. Kane positively bounced out of Villa Park to catch a direct flight to Georgia following Spurs’ fourth consecutive win.
Rewarding his players in this way has taken the edge off Conte’s demanding training sessions and allowed the 52-year-old, who has said he wants to be like a “big brother” to his players, to show his squad a softer side.
With more time at Hotspur Way, Conte has increased video analysis sessions with his squad, typically holding one every day for around 20 to 30 minutes. When Spurs had a midweek fixture, he would try to cram in one video session between games, usually lasting over an hour and far harder for the players to digest.
Among the issues Conte has addressed in these seminars, as well as on the training pitch, is set pieces, the head coach having finally lost patience with his side’s Achilles’ heel following the 3-2 defeat to Manchester United, when Cristiano Ronaldo’s winner came from a corner. It was notable how much more solid Spurs were at repelling set pieces at Villa Park, reflecting the meticulous work of Conte and his coaches behind the scenes.
If there was another big turning point for Spurs, it was the 1-0 defeat to Burnley, which prompted Conte to suggest he may not be the right man to take the club forward. He has since insisted the comments were part of a “strategy” to send a message to his players and, although it hardly felt that way at the time, the results are undeniable.
Spurs’ only blip since was the defeat at Old Trafford, when they were the better side, and they have put five goals past Everton and Newcastle, four past Leeds and Villa, three past West Ham and two past United and Brighton.
Conte’s comments at Turf Moor were the wake-up call his players needed, and he was so encouraged by their reaction, he finally challenged them to finish fourth ahead of the 5-0 win over Everton a fortnight later.
They have risen to that challenge impressively and although Spurs are still not capable of playing Conte’s football for a full 90 minutes, the fingerprints of one of the world’s best coaches are now all over the team, from their steely defending to rapid, structured attacks.
It was not so long ago that it was easy to wonder if Conte was fundamentally ill-suited to the task of rebuilding Spurs, but now he is presiding over a team who are improving with every performance and should be well-placed to kick on if they maintain their grip on fourth.
Conte has not forgotten the perceived injustice of UEFA’s decision, but it is doubtful that Spurs would be in such a promising position if they were still trying to navigate their way through Europe.
