Cristian Stellini takes ‘full responsibility’ for Tottenham’s shocking 6-1 defeat to Newcastle United, admitting he should not have abandoned all Antonio Conte’s tactics, while fans believe the ex-coach was right about their club.
The Italian was assistant manager to Conte for many years at Juventus and Inter, but now is flying solo after taking over for the rest of the season following Conte’s decision to walk away last month.
His position in that role has to now be in doubt after a disastrous 6-1 Premier League defeat to Newcastle United, in which they were already 4-0 down after 21 minutes.
“There’s no words to explain a performance like this. The first 25 minutes were the worst I have ever seen,” said Stellini in his press conference.
“I hope that the system we changed to give us energy was the wrong decision. If it was that, it’s my responsibility. We played with four at the back and if this is the mistake, it’s my mistake.”
Conte has for decades been famous for his three-man defence, so Stellini’s decision to suddenly scrap that basic foundation of his mentor could be seen as an attempt to make his own mark on Tottenham.
It certainly did not pay off, as Spurs were torn to shreds and are increasingly unlikely to get a top four finish this season.
Stellini was asked if this performance proves Conte was right to stick with a three, or at times five, man defence.
“We never know this until we try to do it. We have to analyse the situation now, it’s too early. If we’re in a rush to explain and analyse everything it’s really early, we have to analyse all together. Because we need to take a breath after a performance like this.”
This is Stellini’s first real experience as a coach on his own and perhaps the occasion is a little too much for him.
“I was an assistant until four games ago. It was a bad performance of course. In 21 minutes we conceded four shots and four goals so worse than this is very difficult to see, but there are reasons. We have to find the reasons why. If it is the system, it’s easier to change. We change the system again and we have the result. If it’s not the system, we have to analyse why.”
Many Tottenham fans online referenced Conte’s rant about the endemic problems within the club and suggest he was right to say no amount of coaching changes will fix the basic issues.