Antonio Conte has said goodbye to “Too sparkling” Tottenham

“When attention is far away and most people think of something else, well, that and only that is the time to leave so as not to get bothered by anyone”. Arthur Miller was thinking of the theater, he came above all from another historical era and you feel it when you read it today. Attention was lorana, football fans from all over Europe were thinking of the national teams, but the moment to leave was not the right one anyway for Antonio Conte, the hassles arrived anyway. Maybe it’s never the right time for someone like Antonio Conte to leave. In fact, he really shouldn’t go away, at least during the current season, because yes‘the name of one who arrives, wins, consumes, slams the door is made. But first he wins. It didn’t happen to Tottenham.

“We can announce that manager Antonio Conte has left the club by mutual consent. We achieved Champions League qualification in Antonio’s first season at the club. We thank Antonio for his contribution and wish him well for the future.” A few lines, cold as only a press release can be. In perfect antithesis with the hot heat of Antonio Conte. The coach said enough, it had been weeks, maybe more, that he was someone else, who moved listlessly, trapped, who was elsewhere while remaining in London. However, something of Conte will remain at New White Hart Lane: “Cristian Stellini will take the lead of the team as Acting Head Coach for the rest of the season, together with Ryan Mason as Assistant Head Coach”. Stellini has been Conte’s deputy since 2019, now he will try to do it alone, with different methods and charisma, but, deep down, with Conti’s lesson clearly in mind.

A lesson that only partially worked for Tottenham. He had arrived in November 2021 to replace Nuno Espírito Santo. He had found a team in psychologically bad shape, in ninth place in the Premier League, with ten points less than the leaders and five less than the Champions League area. He went on with some downs, and quite depressing, and several ups, until qualification in the most important cup of Europe, an objective that seemed impossible to achieve at one point of the season. It could have been the beginning of a great sporting story. It wasn’t the beginning of anything.

Antonio Conte tried to live one of his tormented stories in London and, precisely because they were tormented, he was very happy. He found himself in a world that he couldn’t understand and that he didn’t understand. And yes, he had already been in England, at Chelsea, and he had won. But everything was different. Like when in Boris, René Ferretti went to Milan to direct the comedy series “Troppo frizzante”. He had to run away, it wasn’t for him. Conte did the same.

Here you can read Emanuele Corazzi’s portrait of Antonio Conte before his farewell to Tottenham