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LONDON. — Antonio Conte’s uncertain future threatens to ruin Tottenham’s spluttering season as the Italian returns to the bench for tonight’s decisive Champions League football showdown against AC Milan.
Conte is set to be back in charge of Tottenham after missing the last four games as he recovered from gallbladder surgery.
Watching on television back home in Italy while remaining in contact with his assistant Cristian Stellini, Conte saw Tottenham endure a choppy period that encapsulated the club’s inconsistent form throughout his reign.
A pair of 2-0 wins against West Ham and Chelsea suggested Tottenham were on course to clinch a top four place in the English Premier League with a flourish.
But that optimism was punctured by a dismal 1-0 loss at second tier Sheffield United in the FA Cup fifth round and another drab league defeat by the same score at Wolves on Saturday.
Conte has walked back into Tottenham’s plush training complex this week to find a club not exactly in crisis — they still sit fourth in the English Premier League for now — but once again drifting seemingly without direction towards an anti-climactic end to the season.
The north Londoners haven’t won a major trophy since 2008 and even a manager of Conte’s pedigree has been unable to break the drought.
While Jurgen Klopp memorably referred to his Liverpool players as “mentality monsters” during the peak of their success under the German, Tottenham’s often limp response to pressure has made them look more like “mentality midgets”.
Conte has portrayed Tottenham’s problems as beyond his control, subtlely hinting at frustration with the transfer policy of chairman Daniel Levy without completely condemning him in public.
But the 53-year-old is taking his share of the blame from Tottenham fans, who have grown tired of his conservative tactics and questionable substitutions.
Stellini’s run of three successive wins prior to the FA Cup defeat made some Tottenham devotees wonder what the future would look like without Conte.
The former title winner at Chelsea, Inter Milan and Juventus has yet to sign an extension to a contract that expires at the end of this season and would surely be in demand from Italian Serie A clubs if he was available. Even if Tottenham finish in the top four to guarantee a return to the Champions League, it would be little surprise if Conte and Levy decided a parting of the ways was the only option in May. — AFP
Online Reporter