Tottenham news – LIVE: Nagelsmann and Enrique lead next Spurs manager chase
Spurs could move for Julian Nagelsmann or Mauricio Pochtettino as their next boss
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Your support makes all the difference.Tottenham Hotspur begin their search for a new manager after Antonio Conte was sacked.
Daniel Levy has opted to wield the axe once more despite Spurs sitting fourth in the Premier League and primed for a place in next season’s Champions League. But with the atmosphere in this particular corner of north London turning sour, Levy has been ruthless.
Cristian Stellini has been installed as Acting Head Coach and will be joined by Ryan Mason as Assistant Head Coach. Julian Nagelsmann, after his sacking at Bayern Munich, and Mauricio Pochettino have already been linked and coud succeed the Italian, with the chasing pack of Newcastle, Liverpool and Brighton looking to overhaul the deficit. Follow the latest updates as Levy looks for his next manager:
Emerson Royal to undergo surgery as Tottenham’s injury list grows
Emerson Royal has added to Tottenham’s growing injury list, with the defender set for surgery on his knee.
The full-back suffered the issue during the closing stages of Brazil’s 2-1 defeat to Morocco on Saturday and is expected to be sidelined for six weeks, the PA news agency understands.
Emerson will have surgery on Tuesday and faces a race against time to feature again for Spurs this season, with the Premier League due to finish on May 28.
It is the latest blow for Tottenham and their new acting head coach Cristian Stellini, who was promoted from assistant on Sunday night following the departure of long-term confidant Antonio Conte by mutual consent.
Emerson Royal to undergo surgery as Tottenham’s injury list grows
Emerson Royal is one of several players set to be absent for Tottenham’s first match since Antonio Conte’s departure.
Do Spurs’ players have too much power?
“I have seen the managers that Tottenham had,” Conte said in his last press conference as Tottenham Hotspur manager. “You risk disrupting the figure of the manager, to protect the other situation [the players], in every moment.”
Conte was alluding to a typical problem at Spurs in that the board backs the clubs players over the manager whenever pressure - from bad results and performances - begins to mount.
The clearest example of this is the sacking of Mauricio Pochettino. Pochettino had been Spurs’ best manager for an age, consistently getting them into the top four and even leading them to a Champions League final.
When results started to turn poor instead of backing Pochettino in the transfer market, both by bringing in new players but also offloading the ones he didn’t want, the Tottenham board gave the manager the boot, effectively telling the players that they are more important than the manager.
That same situation happened to Nuno Espirito Santo, Jose Mourinho and now Antonio Conte too. Will the Tottenham board recognise this fallacy with their next appointment or are Spurs stuck in the same cycle?
What Cristian Stellini must do to save Tottenham's season
Get top-four charge back on track
Antonio Conte’s departure may look odd on paper given Spurs are fourth in the table, but they have Newcastle breathing down their neck whilst Liverpool and Brighton will no doubt be firmly in the Champions League qualification race.
Tottenham are already guaranteed a 15th consecutive season without silverware and to many fans another top-four finish will not be enough, but anything less will make it a disastrous campaign.
Crucially, getting back into Europe’s elite competition could be a way of convincing Kane to stick around and the financial windfall for the club will surely translate into a portion of the summer spending for the new boss.
Whilst a crunch seven-day period in April sees fixtures against Newcastle, Manchester United and Liverpool, six of Spurs’ other matches are against bottom-half teams. Fourth place is there for the taking.
What Cristian Stellini must do to save Tottenham's season
Fix misfiring forwards
While Harry Kane has been a model of consistency this season with 23 goals, his fellow forwards have struggled.
on Heung-min, the joint-Premier League Golden Boot winner last May, has scored in only six of his 37 appearances this campaign and been a shadow of himself with his confidence seemingly being drained with every passing week.
Meanwhile, £60million summer addition Richarlison has failed to score in the league and only has two goals to his name during an injury-hit season.
The fourth big hitter, Dejan Kulusevski, has also only found the net twice with Conte’s reliance on individual magic backfiring. If Spurs are to achieve anything during the final 10 matches, Kane finally requires some much-needed support.
What Cristian Stellini must do to save Tottenham's season
Attack the day!
Tottenham were free-scoring during the final months of the 2021-22 season and it was Conte’s 3-4-3 system in full flow.
When his trusted formation of wing-backs and three attackers does click, it can be a joy to behold but those days have been few and far between in this campaign.
Spurs supporters have instead repeatedly witnessed dull first halves where a pragmatic team sit back and invite pressure. Inevitably, it has led to goals aplenty being conceded with 40 shipped in 28 Premier League fixtures. But fans would accept a leaky defence if it was full throttle in attack.
Yet a third of the goals scored under Conte in the top flight have been from set-pieces such has been their toothless nature up front. A simple way to get the fanbase back on side would be to ditch the negative counter-attacking tactics of the last three managers.
What Cristian Stellini must do to save Tottenham's season
Lift squad morale
Squad morale will understandably be low after Conte’s tirade against “selfish players” that “play for themselves” last weekend.
It was not the first time the Italian had turned on the group and while some of the passionate monologue hit the nail on the head, it made his position untenable.
The majority of Spurs’ players departed for international duty immediately after their collapse at St Mary’s and new surroundings may have helped them forget the explosive scenes on the south coast, but it has ensured all eyes remain on a squad that has underachieved this season.
A flurry of summer activity was expected to translate into more consistency. Instead, the opposite happened and even though a change of manager has occurred, bruised egos remain.
Tottenham manager for first game of 2023/24 Premier League season
Via Betfair
Julian Nagelsmann: 15/8
Mauricio Pochettino: 3/1
Oliver Glasner: 5/1
Luis Enrique: 9/1
Zinedine Zidane: 11/1
Thomas Frank: 12/1
Ruben Amorim: 14/1
Roberto De Zerbi: 14/1
Massimiliano Allegri: 18/1
Ange Postecoglou: 18/1
Why Antonio Conte’s Tottenham exit sets a new Premier League record
Antonio Conte’s departure from Tottenham was the 11th in the Premier League this term, a record for in-season managerial changes.
The Italian’s exit by mutual consent was announced by the club on Sunday evening, with his assistant Cristian Stellini placed in charge until the summer.
Here we look back at this season’s departures and how the tally compares to past seasons.
Why Antonio Conte’s Tottenham exit sets a new Premier League record
Scott Parker was the first manager to depart this season
Mysterious Daniel Levy has lost his Tottenham vision – but one choice could save Spurs
The good news for Daniel Levy is that Tottenham’s pursuit of a Champions League place will be overseen by the manager who was in charge on the touchline for their best result of the season. It is rather harder to present Cristian Stellini’s interim promotion as the masterplan, despite the 1-0 win over Manchester City that he supervised in Antonio Conte’s absence.
Rather, it is a peculiarly Tottenham-esque end to a season: after some of Levy’s previous statement appointments, of Glenn Hoddle, Andre Villas-Boas and Jose Mourinho, they have instead finished campaigns under David Pleat, Tim Sherwood and Ryan Mason. After Conte brought his brand of dynamite, stood on it and pressed the detonator, his long-term assistant has to sift through the rubble.
The oddity is that, with a few fine results under Stellini, Conte’s reign of increasingly negative football and rhetoric could go down as a qualified success. Spurs got fourth last season and stand fourth now. One eventual verdict on both the season and the Italian’s regime may be that Levy secured Champions League football and bought himself time.
Mysterious Levy has lost his Tottenham vision – but one choice could save Spurs
Julian Nagelsmann and Mauricio Pochettino have been linked with Spurs since the Italian was sacked on Sunday
The outburst that got Conte sacked
The end for Antonio Conte was on the cards following Tottenham’s 3-3 draw with Southampton, when they were leading 3-1, and a goalless draw against AC Milan which saw them knocked out of the Champions League.
“I see selfish players, I see players that don’t want to help each other and don’t put their heart [in],” declared Conte following the Milan game.
He added, “I see only 11 players that play for themselves. Why is it happening?
“Because they are used to it here, they are used to it. They don’t play for something important yeah. They don’t want to play under pressure, they don’t want to play under stress. It is easy in this way.”
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