A broken dressing room and divided fanbase - Tottenham winners and losers from Antonio Conte’s tenure

Antonio Conte once threatened Andrea Agnelli he’d leave Juventus for him if he’d not stopped discussing bonuses with players after they had won the Serie A title in 2012, their first after the Old Lady returned from the 2006 match-fixing scandal.

It was also Antonio Conte who sent Diego Costa a message in 2017 to say he was no longer in his plans after the striker had scored 20 goals in 35 Premier League games to help him win the Premier League title with Chelsea, so falling out with players and burning the house down on his way out is not new to the Italian boss.

The Tottenham board knew that when the time came for them to say goodbye- it was always going to be a nasty break up- what they did also hope for was that he’d at least win them a trophy as his recent success at Inter Milan or his previous ones at Juventus and Chelsea had evidenced.

As the countdown begins for when the club finally confirms his departure, he will leave behind a broken dressing room, a divided fanbase and a slightly damaged reputation as being a serial winner.

But some players will be happy to see his back while others believe his 10 minutes rant at the St Mary’s was what the club needed after they had won only 3 of the 10 games in 2023 that Conte has been on the bench.

So here are some of the reasons why Antonio Conte’s era will be soon forgotten while others will hold on to what could have been.

Yves Bissouma

Bissouma has been one of the underwhelming transfers of the season and his inability to hit the ground running has been one of the contributing factors of the disappointments of the campaign.

The Malian established himself as one of the rising stars of Premier League football at Brighton and Hove Albion, and was being chased by Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal before Antonio snatched him.

Bissouma was supposed to be an upgrade on Rodrigo Bentancur and Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, but with an average of 30 passes per game, zero goals, zero assists and a long term injury- a fresh start might be what it takes to get his career going in north London. It’s a shame he just did not come through for the Italian manager who placed so much trust in him.

Richarlison

The Brazil number nine has always divided opinion, if you ask Rafael Benitez what he thinks of him, it will be different to Frank Lampard, but one thing for sure is that, Richarlison always wears his heart on his sleeve.

When Antonio Conte spoke about players being ‘selfish’ and playing for themselves-he might have been referring partly to an issue that happened between Harry Kane and Richarlison during the Nottingham Forest Premier League game.

Richarlison had a goal ruled out by VAR for a marginal offside but he won a penalty which he desperately wanted to take and get the weight of not scoring a Premier League goal all season off his back- but Kane took the ball off him and smashed home the goal to give Spurs the lead and most importantly for him- close the gap on Alan Shearer’s all-time goalscoring record.

A small matter it might seem but Richarlison dropped his head and got on with it- his hard work and his frustration are in equal measure. The Brazilian has just not fulfilled its enormous potential since making the £60 million switch from Everton in the summer.

The 25-year-old had also looked out for himself when he was left out of the starting 11 against AC Milan in the Champions League.

“I didn’t understand – I was playing well, we won against Chelsea and West Ham and suddenly I was on the bench. I played five minutes against Wolves, asked the reason and no-one told me why”

The interview did not go down well with the manager and his teammates and even though Richarlison apologised in the dressing room the next day- it was another example of the culture at the club as players think mostly of their individual good rather than the collective.

He would deeply be craving a new start too to get his career going in north London.

Tanguy Ndombele

Ndombele could yet win the Italian league title and Champions League with Napoli and return to Tottenham to finally fulfil his potential in north London. What a turn around that would be for the former Lyon man.

He will be one of the several players keeping a close eye on the happenings in north London after he was loaned out by Antonio to Lyon and later Napoli.

The French midfielder was booed off after being substituted against Morecambe in January 2021 and many thought that was his last game for Tottenham- but if Antonio is sacked as expected, then everyone including Ndombele gets a fresh start.

There is still a feeling that under the right manager- the French man could yet be a key player for the Lilywhites.

Son Heung-min

I have to say that Son still has a really good relationship with Antonio even though he does deeply feel the team has regressed this season and that has affected his form.

Last season the South Korean was the foundation on which Champions League football was secured, his 23 goals that won him the  Premier League Golden Boot alongside Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah was proof of all the good things Antonio Conte had done in a short period of time.

The arrival of Perisic has had an effect on the South Korean’s game and even though Son still largely has himself to blame for his form, the team around the player believe Antonio insistence to play Perisic who he signed from his time an Inter Milan has hampered Son’s game massively as they both make similar runs and end up just crossing each other.  Tottenham are always a better team when Son plays well.

Losers

Eric Dier

Dier has been transformed under Antonio. He’s been very good at the heart of the back three- a system which covers most of his flaws as a centre back. It’s really hard to see how he’ll maintain his position if a new manager comes in and reverts to a back four.

He was also genuinely liked by the Italian manager with Conte admitting he had everything to eventually be a world class defender.

“We are talking about a reliable player, 100 percent focused in every game. He is not a player who alternates with a big performance then a drop,” The Italian manager said of Dier back in September 2022.

“He is providing great continuity in his role and playing every game. I can also tell you he is a really good guy, with great will, desire to work and improve.

He knows he has space for improvement and I see every day in his eyes the desire to become stronger, to become a top defender.”

Diers improvement under the Italian earned him a slot in the England squad for the World Cup in Qatar.

Dejan Kulusevski

Kulusevski and Antonio share so much in common, they both believe in the power of pain and hard work and it’s been no surprise that both enjoy working with each other.

When Kulusevski arrived in north London, the Swede wasted little time in settling into his new environment, scoring and providing assists.

No players had been involved in more goal contributions than the former Juventus man in his early days when he swapped Turin for London.

Part of the reason Kulusevki loves playing for Conte is the fact he feels the Italian boss rescued his career after his struggles in Italy, and even though he’s been off the boiler for some games now- he will certainly be one of the players to be sad to see him leave.

Emerson Royal

Another player who has benefitted heavily from working with Antonio is Emerson Royal. The Brazilian has taken to the Italian boss so much that they text each other even on their off days.

When Royal missed out on the Brazil World Cup squad to Dani Alves the first message he got on his phone asking him to chin up was from Conte.

They share a close relationship and Royal takes pride in the challenge being thrown to him by the arrival of Pedro Porro. The way he plays and care he shows is something Antonio really likes from his players and the Italians departure will surely hurt the former Barcelona man.