Conte's Tottenham

Looking at how last season under Conte evolved, we can perhaps get a bit of an insight as to how well we could do next season, purely looking at some of the facts and stats.

The Italian came in in November when Spurs were 8th in the league, off the back of a 3-0 home defeat to United, with 15 points from 10 games and -7 GD.

The issues then were clear. Poor defensively, goal shy and poor individual performances. Our form was WWWLLLLWWLL. Won 5 lost 5. 9 goals scored.

The 'honeymoon period' started promisingly.

A draw at Everton (who were actually level with us at the time) followed by 3 wins. The first real test was Liverpool(h), a drawn game which we could have easily won. The signs were good and a draw on boxing day were the only points dropped in the next 4 games - P9 W6 D3 L0. SO the rot was stopped and momentum gained

Through Jan and Feb things became tougher and I think exposed the poor quality in the squad and the fact Conte had only been in seat a couple months. Losses vs Chelsea, Saints, Wolves had many questioning Conte a bit. This was silenced by the victory at City but then the tame defeat at Burnley raised those questions again...not only amongst fans but Conte openly questioned whether he could take this club forward. 3 points from 15.

The response to the Burnley defeat was good (bar the loss @ Boro) but this was clearly helped by the introduction of Bentancur & Kulusevski, who settled in well, and the return to fitness of Romero.

The last 14 games of the season probably represent the sort of form we can hope and maybe expect under Conte. Our squad was improved, albeit we were still lacking in some positions and had a couple injuries, but it was still pretty impressive:

P14 W10 L2 D2 F38 A8 Pts 32 @ 2.29 per game.

There were still blips in that run. Such blips you can kinda understand when the squad is a bit thin. We really did start with much of the same XI in most of these games, most changes to the line-up usually enforced by injury.

We certainly benefitted from playing just 1 game a week and it was a regular pattern that when we had a week to prepare for a game we usually performed well.

Overall our run in was strong, played well in the big games, avoided any real Spursy moments and it was refreshingly comfortable on the last day at Norwich.

So looking ahead, i am not saying that we'll av. 2.29 pts a game all season as that would represent 87 points overall. But the basis is really there to significantly improve on the 71 points gained this season.

Taking Conte's entire time at Spurs, blips n'all, he's averaged 2 points a game (56 from 28) and that's with all the issues faced in changing a manager mid season, the Jan window and a squad with issues.

We need to add to the squad and the challenge will be maintaining form and levels of performance especially when we also have UCL.

The sounds coming from the club are that we will be strengthening significantly. The feel around the club is now very positive, and the rumours are about who is joining, not which stars are being picked off.

Conte is a real winner. I believe his Chelsea hold the record for most consecutive PL wins. If he is backed in the way he expects and the way we hope, the stats and facts at least point to some significant improvement being possible. The fact we competed well with LFC & City also bodes well. We outperformed every other team in Conte's time. We do need some variation in players and tactics to break down what will inevitably been more defensive opposition next season.

Not saying we will challenge at the top. City with Haaland have that sown up IMO but we could get Chelsea and LFC looking over their shoulders a bit, both having a few issues with hanging on to some of their stars, and I have a little hunch that Tuchel might not last the season - like Conte, he seems to have quite a short shelf life.

Overall, just Pleased that we can go into next season really positive again, looking forward to some UCL football at our amazing stadium and hopefully some very good form in the league.

COYS!