There’s a section of Tottenham fans who were only half-joking when Stellini’s In regained popularity when Sunday’s 2-0 win over West Ham broke their assistant managers’ record of 100 per cent in the dugout.
It’s not easy to separate Christian Stellini’s ideas from Antonio Conte’s, especially when he admitted to getting text messages from his boss all day. Conte stayed in Italy to recover from gallbladder surgery after rushing back from losses to Leicester and AC Milan.
In his absence, Stellini picked up where he left off. He’s already had victories against Marseille (when Conte was serving a collateral suspension) and Manchester City (after Conte’s surgery) – arguably two of the Spurs’ most important results of the season. With three more points, he returned them to the top four.
The biggest difference in Spurs’ three games under their assistant manager was xGA (goals conceded), and although this is a very small sample, there is an encouraging trend. Overall, they have an xGA average of just under 1.7 goals per game in the 2022-23 season.
It was the same with Marseille that evening when they topped the Champions League group thanks to a late goal from Pierre-Émile Heubjerg, but against Manchester City the result was only 0.9. It was only 0.37 against the notoriously ineffective West Ham.
And it’s not a by-product of having more. In fact, the Spurs spend significantly less time with the ball against Stellini, averaging 42 percent compared to about 50 percent throughout the season. The game against City was especially controlled as Spurs dominated the first substitutions and stayed ahead after Harry Kane’s record goal from the 15th minute.
There was some risk of leaving Bernardo Silva relatively loose in midfield, but the pressure was so coordinated that Hojbjerg and Rodrigo Bentancur could afford to take the lead.
West Ham, on the other hand, missed the opportunity to take advantage of Bentancourt’s absence. Declan Rice kept a low profile, Dejan Kulusevski passed him in front of the net, and what David Moyes did right in the first half was quickly undone in the second. West Ham left very few gaps between the back three and midfield, resulting in an awkward break in the 45th minute.
However, since the Spurs actually had another defender in Ben Davis instead of Ivan Perisic on the other side, they were able to field more players. Richarlison’s persistence and the subsequent introduction of Son Heung-min ended up scattering Nayef Agerd, Angelo Ogbonna, and Thilo Kehrer.
Where West Ham usually rely on forcing the ball, they have played right into the hands of a resurgent Emerson Royal who is no longer a scapegoat. Conte’s decision to sign Pedro Porro at his expense in the 4-1 defeat to Leicester looked like a mistake given Emerson’s two best performances for the club on both sides.
The irony is that ever since the Brazilian realized his limitations in attack, especially his crosses, he has played an almost semi-open role to the right of the back three and yet scored – once in a 4 loss to City : 2 and the other against West. Ham.
With or without Conte, she relies on Christian Romero to keep the Spurs defense effective. Despite a red card against City, he completely neutralized Erling Haaland, as did Mikhail Antonio.
There is a common myth that Stellini is much more committed to change than Conte. At Marseille, he made two substitutions in 45 minutes, but one was forced due to Son’s injury.
In the game against City, he first came in the 79th minute; it was 68 on Sunday. Along with Ryan Mason, he has been given some autonomy, but many key tactical decisions still rest with Conte.
No wonder. The 48-year-old is truly Conte’s man, and if the head coach leaves this summer, he will almost certainly leave with him. It will be more of a shame for the Spurs where Stellini is becoming something of a cult hero.