Hoddle claims Spurs set up hasn’t changed much under Conte vs Mourinho

Glenn Hoddle has claimed there is not much difference between how Antonio Conte sets Tottenham up and the way Jose Mourinho did when he was at the club.

So far this season, the numbers certainly make great reading for Spurs, who have picked up 17 points from their first seven Premier League games, scoring 18 goals – the second most behind Manchester City.

Antonio Conte’s men find themselves just one point behind league leaders Arsenal but some of their performances have left a lot to be desired.

Barring the clashes against Southampton and Fulham, Tottenham have had periods in every game where they have struggled and had their backs to the wall.

Hoddle has now opined that Conte sets Spurs up quite similarly to how Mourinho did, insisting that the Lilywhites are playing with the handbrake on rather than allowing the attacking talent at their disposal to express themselves going forward.

The Spurs legend told Seaman Says Podcast: “It’s ok while it’s going well, but I’m going to be quite controversial here and say that I can’t see too much of a difference between the way Mourinho set the team up to how Conte is setting the team up.

“But Spurs fans weren’t having Mourinho, but Mourinho was top often league after a few games that season. They’re playing with the handbrake on a bit and there’s much more to come.”

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I can see where Hoddle is coming from. If Tottenham were not getting results this consistently, I suspect Spurs fans will take kindly to Conte’s style of play.

However, having said that, there are very clear differences between the way Conte and Mourinho set the team up.

While Jose stressed defensive organisation with men behind the ball, there was not really any structure to the way we attacked, with the Portuguese coach seemingly happy to let the forwards do their own thing.

Under Conte, it is clear that there are some fixed patterns of play with the ball, with the team trying to draw the opposition forward to create spaces in-behind.

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