Former Tottenham defender provides his initial thoughts on Antonio Conte’s tenure

Since coming aboard in November, manager Antonio Conte has turned the ship around at Tottenham Hotspur following their slow start to the 2021-22 campaign, leading to the firing of Nuno Espírito Santo. Conte has Spurs in the middle of a fight for a UEFA Champions League spot next season. 

In an interview with Free Super Tips, former Spurs defender Alan Hutton spoke about his initial thoughts since the arrival of Conte. Hutton states that the Italian tactician has organized Tottenham but still has work to do as the EFL Cup result against Chelsea showed. 

“My initial thoughts are that the league form has been decent. He’s organized them a lot better, but as we’ve seen in the last three games against Chelsea and Morecambe that there’s still a lot to do,” Hutton said.

“There’s a lot of work because it’s ultimately the same team that Nuno (Espirito Santo) had, so he’s yet to really stamp his authority on it. It’s a progression that’s going to take time, and I think he knows that himself from some of the interviews he’s given.”

Conte can help Spurs improve by having the financial backing of Chairman Daniel Levy and Managing Director of Football Fabio Paratici. Hutton stated that Levy needs to open the wallet to get the type of players the Italian tactician requires to turn the team into a winner as he’s done in the past at Chelsea, Inter Milan, and Juventus. 

 “They definitely have to do for me,” Hutton said. “I think that would have been one of the biggest sticking points when trying to bring Antonio Conte into the club. We know he’s a serial winner; we know he’ll want to go and challenge the top teams, and he’ll want to stamp his own authority on this team.”

“To do that, he needs to be backed by Daniel Levy. In the past, it’s been difficult for them to spend lots of money, and I believe Daniel Levy has been quite shrewd in what he’s done. But I think it would have been a main part of Conte coming to Tottenham because he would have been told he would get the backing in the transfer window.”