Former Juventus winger Massimo Mauro admits Antonio Conte is a winner, but doesn’t understand why he joined Tottenham and doesn’t like that he’s always argued with every club where he’s been.
The Italian tactician sees his contract in North London expire in June 2023, but Italian media, specifically La Gazzetta dello Sport, is pushing for his return to Serie A. Would he be useful to relaunch Italian football after the Azzurri’s elimination from the World Cup play-offs?
“Surely, prepared professionals would be useful, but we need high-level instructors and directors even more,” Mauro told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“We need to teach how to stop and pass the ball. Held the head high, not fight with the direct opponent.”
Conte was named Serie A Coach of The Year for 2020-21 when he won Inter‘s first Scudetto in 11 years. Did he deserve the award?
“He won the title with a club that hadn’t won it for a long time, putting an end to Juventus’ dominion, which had become his enemy. He has kept his word and deserved to win it,” admitted Mauro.
Gazzetta challenges Conte to leave Tottenham and return to Serie A
“There are many things we can talk about, but there is an objective fact, which is, he’s always won, whether he had champions or not. He has the ability to take the best out of everyone and he doesn’t get wrong. The most important thing for a coach is the psychological approach.
“It is crucial for the team to be in the right mindset before a game, every coach has his method. The one of Conte is working.”
“However, there is one thing I don’t like, which is he has always argued with the clubs where he’s been. I think that a coach must be in sync with the club. Any president who hires him knows that he’ll have to argue. They also know that they’ll probably win because Conte knows how to do it.”
Conte has won three Serie A titles with Juventus and one with Inter. He has returned to the Premier League after a two-year spell with Chelsea where he had conquered one Premier League and one FA Cup.
“I didn’t understand the decision to move abroad and sign with Tottenham,” concluded Mauro. “He always said that he won’t accept the job while the season was ongoing.”
Mauro played for Catanzaro, Udinese, Juventus and Napoli during his playing career, winning two Serie A titles, one with the Bianconeri and one with the Partenopei during the Diego Maradona era.
Mauro spiega Conte, panchina d'oro: "Ma non ho capito la scelta di andare al Tottenham" #Conte https://t.co/7djxbIhGwP
— La Gazzetta dello Sport (@Gazzetta_it) April 1, 2022
Antonio Conte is a winner? Not in the UCL he’s not.
Ibra didn’t win CL too, does it make Ibra a loser?
Conte should have stayed with Italy for World 2018 they would have made it but he stays a year abs leaves