As one of the most respected coaches in the modern game, Antonio Conte has a huge legion of fans. His aggressive 3-5-2 formation has become a staple of his attacking style. It has become a key facet of his managerial career, and that high octane approach has helped him to turn Juventus, Chelsea and then Inter from potential challengers to genuine winners.
However, the downside with Conte is that his intensity can become problematic for his clubs. It is often hard to keep up with the regular demands, and his ability to simply walk away from a project has become almost legendary. Already, he has walked from Juventus and Inter at what would be seen as inopportune moments. His time with Chelsea ended badly, too, even with such outstanding soccer players as Billy Gilmour, when a failure to meet his demands led to a poor second season.
Talk of him arriving at Spurs was seen as fanciful, until it quickly moved to the stage where an appointment was likely. The arrival of Fabio Paratici was seen as the ideal sign that the ex-Inter man would really be rocking up in North London. However, reports of transfer control and finances not being satisfactory led to the deal breaking down. Now, in a recent interview, the Italian has opened up on what went wrong with his Spurs move.
What did Antonio Conte say about leaving the Spurs role vacant?
In an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport, the former Inter coach opened up on his reasons for leaving the Spurs job behind, saying: “Generally, I like challenges and I’ve accepted many of them during my career. Even the top clubs I coached were never the favourites when I arrived. However, if there’s something that doesn’t convince me I prefer not to accept, regardless of the money.”
From that, then, one can infer that the coach was unable to secure the power or the resources he believed was necessary. Some reports that Conte wished to cash in on Harry Kane and build a team with the funds generated. The board, though, are keen to keep Kane around and were not willing to concede that a sale would need to happen.
He also opened up on his exit from Inter, saying: “What I can say is that my project never changed, but it would be nonsense to discuss this now. I don’t want to create controversy or talk about transfers. I respect Zhang and I thank him for choosing me. I love Inter, the club and their fans. I wish [new Inter coach] Simone Inzaghi the best of luck because he is a very talented and ambitious coach, I wish all the best to the Nerazzurri.”
With that, Inter fans can arguably see a coach who does not want to rock the boat. As has happened in the past, though, Conte might go into the truth of the situation in a few years. For now, though, Inter and Spurs fans can join together in wondering what might have been had the high-intensity Italian stuck around or, in the case of Spurs, turned up in the first place.
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