Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte understood what job he was taking over when he agreed to come to north London and take over for Nuno Espírito Santo.
However, the magnitude of what he needs to overhaul didn’t quite display itself until last week’s 2-1 loss in the UEFA Conference League to NŠ Mura. It showed what Conte has to cleanse out if he wants to turn Spurs into a winner.
Chris Sutton spoke with the Daily Mail to discuss that this Tottenham job will be the most challenging project of Conte’s career. The Italian tactician has won at various clubs like Chelsea FC, Juventus, and Inter Milan. Now he’ll look to do the same with Spurs, but it’s no easy task, as Sutton elaborates.
“That Europa Conference League loss to NS Mura was totally embarrassing — one of the worst defeats in Tottenham’s history. It underlined the size of Conte’s task. He’s a winner who’s walked into a club with a losing mentality, and changing that is going to be his greatest challenge,” Sutton said.
“Write down the players’ names on a piece of paper, and you’d think, ‘that’s a good squad, that’s a team who can compete for trophies’ But they’re so disjointed that it’s downright sad. There are characters there who seem so meek. Conte’s got a hell of a job on his hands if he’s to maintain his excellent record as a manager.”
The January window will provide Tottenham an opportunity to not only improve their squad but flush out any players that Conte doesn’t see fit heading into the future. It will be the first step for the Italian tactician to begin putting his mark on a project, one that he hopes see Spurs lift a trophy while he’s there.