Conte recognizing scale of rebuilding job at Tottenham

Updated Feb. 17, 2022 9:22 a.m. ET

Associated Press

As a player, Antonio Conte was widely respected for being a passionate, tenacious, indefatigable midfielder, and he has taken those traits into his successful coaching career.

But does he have the stomach for a fight in his latest job at Tottenham?

His turbulent first three months in north London have been pockmarked with comments — seemingly repeated before and after every match — about the limitations of the squad he inherited and the major work needed to get Tottenham to the level where the club can compete for trophies.

The level where Conte has operated for the past 10 years at Juventus, Chelsea and Inter Milan, winning league titles with each team.

Now, in relative terms, he is slumming it at Tottenham, a team that — in his words — “has been in the middle of the table for so many years.”

“Certainly the situation compared to the past for me is very different,” Conte said in an interview with Sky Sport in Italy, published this week, “in terms of perspectives, ambitions, in terms of fighting to win.”

Of course, he knew this when taking the job. OK, Spurs reached the Champions League final in 2019 under Mauricio Pochettino (ultimately losing to Liverpool), albeit via a rollercoaster of late goals and drama that defied belief at times. The club also has a new stadium that might be the envy of most of Europe.

But Tottenham hasn’t won a major trophy since 2008 and has only realistically challenged for the English league title once — in 2016, the year Leicester won it against all the odds — in a generation.

The squad is limited, save for standouts Harry Kane and Son Heung-min, and the mentality of the team is oft-criticized to the point where it is a running joke in English soccer.

Tottenham also cannot compete with Europe’s big boys in the transfer market, as seen in January — Conte’s first transfer window at the club — when Liverpool hijacked a potential deal for Colombia winger Luis Diaz from Porto and the only two arrivals came on deadline day.

“What happened in January is not easy,” Conte said.

So he has a big, big job on his hands rebuilding a team that heads into Saturday’s league match at first-place Manchester City in eighth and 27 points behind its opponent, though with games in hand.

Conte is hardly known for sticking around at teams, either. His longest spell at one club is three years — at Juventus, from 2011-14 — and his demands and intensity can lead to conflicts with boards. He has typically bought players ready-made to compete for trophies, like at Inter, but at Tottenham he’ll need to nurture young prospects over time.

Is he ready to buy in fully and be around for the long haul? Does he have a chairman in Daniel Levy who is willing to meet all of his demands?

Time will tell, but Conte first has to get a tune out of a team that has lost its last three games in the league — away to Chelsea and at home to Southampton and Wolverhampton — and will do well to avoid a fourth against a City team that has only lost once in all competitions since Oct. 30.

Kane looks to be getting back to his best after a slow start to the season, partly due to him taking time to get over his failure to secure a move to City in the offseason, but there are major question marks about the fragility in defense, especially while Eric Dier is out injured, and the lack of creativity in midfield, particularly centrally.

Tottenham conceded five goals in defeats to Southampton and Wolves, and were wide open at times. City has scored nine goals over the past week in wins over Norwich (4-0) in the league and Sporting (5-0) in the Champions League.

The current gulf between the teams will not be lost on Conte.

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Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80