The opposite of Mourinho’s first European game in charge when I seem to remember them going 2-0 down before storming back to win 4-2 a couple of years back.
How did London Hotspurs do today @Little_Lord_Fauntleroy? I thought there would be a flurry of activity on this thread for Coach Conte’s first League game in charge.
A 0-0 draw at Everton. First clean sheet in 8 league games. We’ve turned a corner.
Sky Sports opted for Woolwich v Watford as their early televised live match.
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I was on the bike and was listening to bits of it… Sounded like a good battle. A clean sheet is the best Conte could have hoped for really… We aren’t creating too many chances.
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Conte’s first week at Tottenham: 75-minute video analysis of Vitesse win, lots of running and more fruit
Charlie Eccleshare and more 3h ago
27 
To get a sense of Antonio Conte’s first week at Tottenham, the scene at Hotspur Way on Friday lunchtime should give you a good indication.
It was technically Conte’s first full day in charge (his work permit had been approved the previous morning) and, as has been a recurring theme over the last week, he wanted to make up for lost time.
The previous couple of hours had been utterly exhausting for the players, and they were recovering from their exertions. Most were walking gingerly, nursing a stiff leg or back or other aches and pains, and looking as though they had just run a marathon. A few gave a grin of satisfaction and described themselves as “dead” — echoing Giorgio Chiellini’s description of how players feel after training under Conte: “Not tired — dead”.
Some of those involved had played in the 3-2 win against Vitesse Arnhem the night before and 12 hours later, were then training at a level of intensity they had not seen since the days of Mauricio Pochettino. One of the Spurs players’ output is said to have been 75 per cent of what it would normally be in a match. Ordinarily, players would spend Fridays after a Thursday night game in the gym or swimming pool. Instead, they were being pulled around by Conte as part of his famous 11 vs 0 “shadow training” exercise.
Around the club, there is a view that the players have got more out of Conte’s first week than Nuno Espirito Santo’s four months in charge.
Because it wasn’t just the training session on Friday that stood out. Before getting on the grass, Conte had subjected the players to a video analysis session of the Vitesse game that had been scheduled to last 20 minutes. It ended up taking 75 and meant training didn’t start until 11.45am, almost an hour after it had been due to begin.
The night before, Conte told the players following the Europa Conference League win over Vitesse that although he was proud of the way they had “suffered”, they needed to be in better physical condition. He made it clear that this was the last time he ever wanted to see overweight players, that their current levels were unacceptable, and that the team’s mentality had to change.
To help restore his players to their physical peaks, Conte has already revolutionised the club’s approach to nutrition. He believes that a handful of the club’s players are overweight, and has cut out heavy food and sandwiches after training, and taken away ketchup and mayonnaise. He has also cut down on fruit juice and cooking with oil and butter, and wants the players to eat more fruit.
Fitting in everything has been a challenge, and after that lengthy video analysis session on Friday, Conte was late for his press conference, for which he apologised profusely.
But he makes no apologies for working the players so hard, or for the fact that he has so much information he wants to get across, and that doing so may take a while.
This will be done partly through an increase in team meetings and video analysis sessions. These, along with insisting the squad all eat lunch together, have been some of the staples of Conte’s initial few days at Hotspur Way.
This is how Conte’s first week at Spurs played out…
The last 10 days or so have been a whirlwind for everyone at the club. Starting with the home defeat to Manchester United on Saturday, October 30, followed by Nuno’s sacking two days later and Antonio Conte’s appointment barely 24 hours later, there has barely been time to breathe.
Conte has set the tone for that feeling of having so much to do, but far too little time. The absence of a pre-season means he will have to condense the usual weeks of summer training into the spare hours and days between games that the team’s busy schedule allows. Conte acts as though there aren’t enough hours in the day, and he and his staff have been arriving for work earlier and leaving later than was customary under Nuno.
Before his official unveiling on Tuesday, Conte slept at the club’s luxury accommodation The Lodge on Monday night. He met with the players on Tuesday afternoon, and in a team meeting before their afternoon training session, told them how important it was that everyone stuck together after a difficult start to the season. He promised that there would be no favourites in the squad and that he would do everything in his power to help them win, as long as they were all completely dedicated to the project. He also stressed the importance of the players enjoying their football again in the wake of a bruising couple of months.
Because his work permit hadn’t been approved, Conte wasn’t able to lead the subsequent training session (or the one on Wednesday) but he watched on and conveyed how hard he expected the players to push themselves in matches and on the training pitch. He was also able to introduce some of the patterns of play he wants to see, with Lucas Moura’s goal against Vitesse at the end of a long passing move coming straight out of the Conte playbook.
Moura drops short to receive a pass from Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg
He plays the ball forward to Harry Kane and sprints into the space
Kane knows where Moura will be and slides a pass through
The players responded to his instructions and positive energy straight away, buoyed by the hire of someone with such a glittering CV. Athletes are always subject to accusations of coasting but the reality is that the vast majority want to push themselves to their maximum. That is how they have made it to the top of their sport.
For the Spurs players, it has been re-energising this last week to have that feeling again of being tested. They know that after a couple of years of losing the physical edge they gained under Pochettino, they are working their way towards being back in peak condition. Conte has made clear to them that there will be no comfort zone under him, that no one can become complacent or too comfortable. He has standards and if you don’t meet them, you will know about it in no uncertain terms.
This kind of messaging has reinforced the feeling at the club that Conte’s arrival means there cannot be any excuses anymore. The players can’t hide behind misgivings about the manager or the lack of fitness or tactics, and the hope is that this will push up standards for everyone.
“He has a great personality, great ideas about football,” Tottenham’s captain Hugo Lloris said of Conte on Wednesday. “He will bring his passion, energy and knowledge of football. We are here to work and deliver the best every day. Bring intensity into our training sessions. Bring focus 100 per cent every day in every single session and he will help us to deliver better performances in the competitions.”
In those first couple of days, Conte wanted to foster a sense of togetherness straight away. He insisted the whole group ate lunch together at midday and explained that this was non-negotiable. Under Nuno, this kind of thing had slipped — yes, the head coach wanted the players to eat together, but if it didn’t happen there weren’t really any consequences. The players also saw those alterations made to their diet, with Conte explaining how the changes would lead to rewards on the pitch.
There has been pretty much universal acceptance of Conte’s methods from the players because he has the track record to prove that they work and the clear and concise way he is getting across his message.
Tottenham players have been re-energised at training by Conte (Photo: Tottenham Hotspur FC/Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images)
In general, Spurs staff have noticed how precise Conte is about every last detail. Whereas Nuno identifies himself as a head coach who sees his domain as the training ground and was happier to accept certain structures that were already in place, Conte wants everything done his way.
As well as the players’ nutrition, Conte has already sought to transform team meetings and video analysis sessions.
Meetings with the squad were a rarity under Nuno, but they are very important to Conte in fostering unity and the sense that everyone is clear about what the team is trying to achieve.
Video analysis sessions are similarly fundamental. As Italy manager, they lasted about an hour but at Chelsea, Conte cut them down to around 15-20 minutes after realising that shorter sessions would be more effective for that group of players. The session on Friday morning after the Vitesse game had been booked for 20 minutes but lasted nearly four times that as there was so much to get through. As with much of Conte’s first week, things may eventually calm down a little, but there is a lot of time to make up after missing the first few months of the season.
The video sessions have been led by Conte’s brother, Gianluca, alongside Spurs’ analysts, and he has impressed with his energy and enthusiasm. Antonio Conte had also watched a lot of Spurs footage before taking over, so already has a good handle on what they need to work on. Before the Vitesse game and after it, the Conte brothers had plenty to get across to the players.
Across Wednesday and Thursday, the head coach also impressed Tottenham staff with how respectful he was. The same was true of his coaches, who have come across as friendly and keen to work with the pre-existing Spurs employees in different departments, making a point of saying hello to everyone and shaking their hands in the morning. They have also been useful in helping their new colleagues understand what Conte wants and expects. In general, Conte’s arrival had the effect already of lifting standards, with Spurs staff looking at the dedication and diligence of the new head coach and his team and wanting to match it. Conte and his team are very intense and professional, and everyone from the analysts to the sports scientists wants to impress them.
It has been striking to everyone at Tottenham just how hard Conte and staff work. They operate in the same space Nuno and his team did, and are often seen sitting around the coaches’ table, very engaged in what they are doing. At Hotspur Way, they are close to inseparable. Despite the friendliness, when it’s time to work, there aren’t many lighthearted moments.
Conte’s visa was approved on Thursday morning before his first match that evening. The win over Vitesse was thrilling and at the final whistle, Conte stopped to shake hands with young supporters as he walked down the tunnel.
Conte took charge of the Vitesse game hours after his visa had been approved (Photo: John Walton/PA Images via Getty Images)
Conte was relieved his team had dug out the victory after being down to 10 men, but he told his players that they had to be stronger and would have to “suffer” (a key Conte mantra) a lot more.
The following morning he showed them exactly what he meant with that lengthy video analysis meeting and gruelling training session. After he had walked and talked them through the 11-v-0 exercise, it was onto an 11-v-11 game. The players ached, but their minds and bodies tingled with the buzz of being pushed beyond their comfort zone. It felt like the Pochettino era. Long days at Hotspur Way were a staple of Conte’s first week.
His first Premier League match followed two days later, as Spurs and Everton played out a disappointing 0-0 draw. But defender Sergio Reguilon said afterwards: “You can see on the pitch the team is more aggressive and more competitive. We believe in the things we’re working on in training. That’s the way. We have to learn too much under him. For me, it’s unbelievable.”
In reality, it could be weeks, even months before we see the benefits of the hard work that is only just getting started under Conte. His first week rounded off on Monday and Tuesday with the players given a couple of days off after those two games in quick succession.
Those who are not on international duty will be back in this morning for double sessions, which Conte wasn’t able to fit in last week because of the constricted schedule. The players who will be taking part are looking forward to them and getting back towards full fitness — something that ebbed away under Jose Mourinho.
It’s only been a week but with so much to pack in, it’s felt almost like a month. And you get the sense that will be the case for the weeks to come as well.
The Conte era is well and truly underway.
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Juande Ramos got rid of ketchup too and the Spuds had 2 points after about 8 games afair.
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insert Luke Shaw gag
Club Sandwich in the 80s the fancy cunt
Reads like Dan Levy wrote it himself. Pure propaganda
The premiership stuff on the Athletic is awful scutter, at least the beat writers for the American sports are some bit objective
Coach Conte’s team BOOED OFF at half time
Emerson Royal must have done something to Regulion.
He had loads of space if he was played in just before the Leeds goal.
That was inexcusable, he was literally facing him.
We’ll see what Conte is made of as a manager over the next year or two, if he hangs around.
Spurs have an absolute diabolical squad. They’re not even top half standard.
This Paratici chap will have a load of Serie A stars lined up.
I’ve seen them given Ger
Kane is some donkey.
Better second half so far. Hopefully we’ll see the Conte defensive resilience and organisation to see it out.