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The Antonio Conte era is officially underway at Tottenham Hotspur. The Italian was announced as Spurs manager following the sacking of Nuno Espirito Santo earlier in the week.
Although Conte has been in north London for just a few days, his first public address gave clear signs of a man who would do anything to win.
Tottenham Hotspur’s first game under the former Chelsea and Inter Milan boss came on Thursday against Vitesse in the Europa Conference League.
Spurs raced into an early 3-0 lead thanks to goals from Heung-Min Son, Lucas Moura and an own goal from Jacob Rasmussen. The first half ended in drama as Rasmussen and Matus Bero pulled two back for the Dutch side. However, the English giants were able to hold on to record an important 3-2 victory.
Debut victory for Antonio Conte
Antonio Conte desperately needed a win to kickstart his tenure as Tottenham Hotspur boss, and his players obliged.
The 52-year-old manager reverted to his favored three-back system. Eric Dier, Christian Romero and Ben Davies formed the back three, while Emerson Royal, Oliver Skipp, Pierre-Emile Hoejbjerg and Sergio Reguilon formed the midfield four.
Moura, Harry Kane and Son were trusted in attack as Conte named his first starting line-up. Fortunately, the team didn’t disappoint and delivered their manager a win on his debut.
Tottenham Hotspur were robust and clinical, especially in the first 30 minutes. They showed flashes of the compact side they could become under their new manager. It’s still early days, but the Spurs faithful must have felt confident after watching their side put up a spirited performance for the first time in a long while.
Tottenham Hotspur’s problems laid bare
One of the biggest problems Jose Mourinho and Nuno Espirito Santo faced during their ill-fated spells as Spurs manager was the team’s tendency to capitulate under the least pressure.
That nearly happened again against Vitesse. Having taken a 3-0 lead inside the opening half-hour, Tottenham Hotspur took their foot off the gas too early and almost allowed their opponents to claw their way back.
Conte would’ve been impressed with how his side started the game. However, the manner in which they conceded those two goals also highlighted the problems that he’ll need to solve immediately.
"My first impression is that it was a crazy game because we were winning 3-0 and we were dominating the game and created many chances to score other goals,” Conte said after the game, as quoted by Sky Sports.
“But instead in 10 minutes we conceded twice and we lost a bit of confidence. I think you have to work also on these aspects, but we should have won and we won.
"For sure, in the second half after the 10 men, they tried to push us and then I decided to make three changes because I could see that we had lost the balance and in the end, I think we deserved to win as we created more chances than Vitesse."
There were a lot of positives to take from Conte’s debut game, but Tottenham Hotspur’s challenges were also laid bare. From here, though, they can only get better or revert to type. Only time will tell.
