It’s not that common for a Premier League club to have three permanent managers in one calendar year. That’s what Tottenham have managed to do though. After an up and down year, they now have Antonio Conte in charge. But what can he achieve for them this season?
2021 began with Jose Mourinho in charge of the club. He was replaced in April in the week leading up to the EFL Cup final, a match they lost to Manchester City. No permanent manager was appointed, with Ryan Mason placed in charge until the end of the season.
Tottenham finished seventh in the Premier League but at least qualified for the new Europa Conference League. Still, it was a bit of a comedown from being in the Champions League final just a couple of seasons before that.
Former Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Nuno Espirito Santo was given the job on June 30. He got off to a great start with a 1-0 home win over Premier League champions Manchester City. His first three game were all victories and achieved with clean sheets. People were talking about a change at Tottenham and the prospect of a stronger defence to help them push on.
Those dreams soon faded away with a series of losses and some heavy defeats. The team wasn’t scoring (just nine goals in 10 league games) and were conceding far too many. Losing 3-0 at home to Manchester United was the final straw. A million miles from the 6-1 win at United last season. The fans turned on Nuno and his style was being described as “boring” by soccer pundit Roy Keane.
Betting on the Premier League is so popular in the US. Sites such as DraftKings, BetMGM and PointsBet all have sportsbooks in Iowa and offer a constant stream of betting opportunities to hopefully win dollars on, including the potential impact of the managerial change in north London. Bookies offer odds on lots of markets and at BetMGM, you can get odds of 7/1 on Tottenham finishing in the top four and making it into the Champions League.
So, permanent boss number three is now in charge. Antonio Conte has already had success in the Premier League. He won the 2016/17 title with Chelsea and lifted the FA Cup the following season before being sacked after failing to qualify for the Champions League.
His most recent job was in charge of Inter Milan. He took them to the title last season but then left by mutual consent. Now he’s in charge of Tottenham and has plenty of work to do.
After the loss to Manchester United, Tottenham are ninth in the table with five wins and five defeats. Remember, they won their first three league games of the season. The club are only five points behind the final Champions League qualification place.
Conte must get his new club scoring again. It seems that Harry Kane is happy with the appointment. He’s been scoring for England and in the Europa Conference League but has just one Premier League goal this season. Heung-min Son is top scorer with four, but only five players have scored for Tottenham in the Premier League this season.
The upcoming fixture list looks promising for Conte. Games against Leeds United, Burnley, Brentford, and Norwich City should be ones that they can win. Tottenham are already in the EFL Cup quarter finals and have a decent chance of making the Europa Conference League knock-out rounds. A successful season for Tottenham is still possible but his first month is going to be so important.
