Antonio Conte out at Tottenham but what next? Nagelsmann or Pochettino would lift the mood
Spurs find themselves looking for a new manager once again after the Italian left the club 'by mutual consent' on Sunday night and this time, they really need to get it right
“Tottenham’s story is this.” That is how Antonio Conte described Spurs in an extraordinary rant after he had watched his team throw away a 3-1 lead at Southampton last Saturday. Eight days later, it has finally cost him his job and those words sum up the situation now quite aptly.
Since sacking Mauricio Pochettino in December 2019, Tottenham have hired and fired three managers: José Mourinho, Nuno Espiríto Santo and Conte. None were the right fit in terms of style, nor good enough when it came to results. So what now?
Conte took Tottenham back into the Champions League and might have done so again this season. Overall, results were not terrible, but better was expected after significant investment in his two transfer windows at the club last year. And the football was dire. The atmosphere in the stadium suffered and many of the fans had stopped singing. There was not much to sing about in the end.
The Italian has sought to blame just about everyone else when results have been bad, but his Spurs side did not manage to score across two legs against a struggling AC Milan and were knocked out of the FA Cup by second-tier Sheffield United. Much of it is his fault but instead of seeking solutions, he always seemed to point the finger at others.
Top managers demand investment but also improve their players. Pochettino did that. Conte cannot really say he has. And his attacks on the club were the last straw. Still, some said: why not back him and invest? To which the best answer is: because he has never given the impression he will be around for very long in the first place.
Pochettino loved the club and was invested in the project. He had wanted to stay and should have been kept. His sacking, which followed a period of no investment as Spurs went two transfer windows without a single signing, was a mistake. The previous season, he somehow took Tottenham to a Champions League final. In many ways, he was a victim of his own success. So is it time to bring him back?
It might be. But Tottenham’s board is apparently divided on that and second spells do not always work out. If he does return, Spurs have to recognise the mistakes made in his tenure and give him the funds to succeed and strengthen this time around. Still, though, it feels like it might be too soon and also a little forced: going back to something which worked before rather than what the team needs now. That said, it could be argued that he is what the team needs now, especially after a period of sterile football under three successive managers. And he might be the only man who can persuade Harry Kane to stay at the club beyond this summer.
The sudden availability of Julian Nagelsmann is intriguing, though. The former Bayern Munich manager was surprisingly sacked on Friday and has interested Tottenham in the past. At 35 years old, he is one of the most exciting coaches in the world and if he is keen to take the job, surely he should be their top target.
Reports on Sunday said Nagelsmann would be open to talks with Tottenham, but that he would want to take a break before starting a new role. So perhaps that is why Spurs have appointed Cristian Stellini as interim until the end of the season, with Ryan Mason as his assistant.
Either way, Tottenham need to think about the direction they want to take and ways to improve recruitment in order to ensure that the next manager does not follow the pattern of proven winners who cannot repeat their success elsewhere when they sign for Spurs. It is going to be another interesting summer in N17.