Former Chelsea and England winger Shaun Wright-Phillips has criticised Antonio Conte’s defensive style of play and compared the Italian’s tactical set-up to the approach that got Jose Mourinho sacked.
Since arriving at Spurs in November 2021, Antonio Conte has transformed the club’s fortunes, turning them into an incredibly difficult team to beat. With 23 points from their first ten matches, this is now Tottenham’s best start to a Premier League season.
Conte’s men have come under scrutiny for lacklustre performances though, with many claiming Spurs’ approach of soaking up pressure and hitting opponents on the counter-attack is too defensive and boring.
Spurs are grinding out results without dominating games at the moment, which is both a good signal of a successful team and an indicator that Tottenham will hopefully hit another gear and improve on the pitch.
On the Premier League Productions show, Miguel Delaney posited that Conte could be conserving his team’s energy ahead of the World Cup.
According to Shaun Wright-Phillips though, this ‘restrained’ style of play is no different to the concept of ‘parking the bus’ that saw Jose Mourinho lose his job.
Speaking to Premier League Productions (17/10/22 at 2:35 pm), Wright-Phillips said: “You say restrained? He’s just parking the bus. Mourinho parked the bus and got the sack for that, doing the same thing, basically.”
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Spurs Web Opinion
Whatever Conte is doing, it’s working and getting Spurs results. Sure, it’s not the most entertaining football, but you have to be savvy sometimes to get the points on the board, and Spurs are flying at the moment in the one area that matters – the league table.
Personally, I don’t mind watching a few boring games if it means Spurs can be successful in the short and long term.
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