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:
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.
Can Daniel Levy finally fix broken Tottenham?
Julian Nagelsmann and Mauricio Pochettino have been linked with Spurs since the Italian was sacked on Sunday
The candidates to replace Antonio Conte
Brendan Rodgers
Despite their poor showing in the league this season Leicester have won more trophies in the last 15 years than Spurs with their successes in the FA Cup and the Community Shield coming under Brendan Rodgers.
Rodgers has experience of rebuilding struggling teams. He put in a title challenge with Liverpool, won a treble with Celtic and the aforementioned FA Cup victory with the Foxes show he is good at turning things around with limited resources.
Tottenham’s board and ownership are not likely to start splashing vast amounts of cash having resisted it for so long so Rodgers’ skill set could be an ideal compromise.
What Cristian Stellini must do to save Tottenham 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.
Tottenham ‘have no plans to sell Harry Kane’ this summer
Tottenham are reportedly determined not to sell Harry Kane in the summer.
The Manchester Evening News, citing Sky Sports, says Spurs chairman Daniel Levy has no intention of sanctioning a sale, regardless of whether or not the 29-year-old striker signs a new deal.
The news could be a particular blow to Manchester United, with the Red Devils heavily linked with Kane during their search for a new striker.
Tottenham ‘have no plans to sell Harry Kane’ this summer
Manchester United have been heavily linked with Kane during their search for a new striker
What Cristian Stellini must do to save Tottenham 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 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.
5 matches that contributed to Antonio Conte’s Tottenham exit after 16 months
Southampton 3 Tottenham 3 (March 18, 2023)
Holding a 3-1 lead and set to move into third place, Spurs pressed the self-destruct button at St Mary’s and their head coach did the same after full-time.
James Ward-Prowse’s stoppage-time penalty salvaged Saints a point and saw Conte let rip into his squad across several interviews.
During an explosive post-match press conference that lasted 10 minutes, the Italian described his players as “selfish” and hit out at “the story of Tottenham” when he reflected on one cup win over a 20-year period.
While Conte later clarified with the board his comments were aimed at the underperforming squad, he had attacked all parties at Spurs and this act of self-preservation proved the final straw with the axe falling days later.
5 matches that contributed to Antonio Conte’s Tottenham exit after 16 months
Tottenham 0 AC Milan 0 (March 8, 2023)
Yet another tame display in a season-defining fixture edged Conte a step closer to the exit door. Trailing 1-0 from the first leg and with the Champions League the only cup competition Tottenham were left in, a memorable European night in N17 was required.
Instead, Spurs produced an insipid first-half performance that suggested they did not even realise they needed a goal.
A similar pattern remained after the break and, while Cristian Romero was sent off late on for the hosts, Conte’s decision to withdraw attacker Dejan Kulusevski for centre-back Davinson Sanchez left the majority of 61,602 in attendance dumbfounded.
Kane did have a last-gasp header saved in what was essentially the home team’s only chance of note across 180 minutes of the two-legged last-16 tie, but another year without silverware was rubberstamped.
The candidates to replace Antonio Conte
Roberto De Zerbi
Will Spurs be thinking of poaching a manager from an over-achieving Premier League team, again?
They’ve already done so twice by taking Mauricio Pochettino from Southampton and Nuno Espirito Santo from Wolves. Those appointment’s yielded vastly different results for the club but the signs are there that De Zerbi would align closer to Pochettino’s tenure than Santo’s.
The candidates to replace Antonio Conte
Julian Nagelsmann
Fresh off his firing from Bayern Munich, 35-year-old Julian Nagelsmann has jumped to the top of the betting markets to take on the job at Spurs.
His fast-paced style of play would appease fans and whilst at RB Leipzig the German has already proved himself at a club wanting to challenge the elite.
Would he get the backing to take Spurs to the next level though?
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