Stellini ‘debunks’ Conte myths and reveals new tactical ideas

Antonio Conte’s assistant manager Christian Stellini confirms his boss ‘is eager to get back to work’ with a new tactical identity, then tries to ‘debunk’ some myths about the coach.

Conte has been out of work since leaving Tottenham Hotspur in March 2023 and linked repeatedly with a return to Serie A for Napoli, Milan or Juventus, not to mention Chelsea and Manchester United.

However, multiple sources also reported that these clubs are nervous about hiring Conte for a number of reasons, considering him to be tactically old-fashioned and negative, along with too demanding for the finances of many Italian teams.

His assistant manager Stellini, who stepped in as interim coach at Tottenham briefly after Conte walked away, tried to disprove all of those ‘myths’ about his boss.

“There is a strong desire to get back on the field, but we have spent the year working regardless and getting up to date, because Antonio always wants to improve himself,” Stellini told TeleLombardia.

“In the next adventure, if there is one, there will be tactical changes. We worked hard on that. Conte wants to bring more unpredictability and modernity to his football.”

Conte demanding and transparent

The coach is also famous for not just having a massive salary, but demanding several big signings of his clubs, walking away from Inter after the Scudetto because they were not in a financial position to guarantee those buys.

“That is true of all important coaches. It is never easy to create a synergy between club and coach, because the club’s economic requirements do not always fit with the needs of a coach who wants to win every game. Some coaches hide that better than others.

“Conte is a very transparent person, very demanding, but he always achieved great results. That’s the crux of the matter,” assured Stellini.

“If I look at Conte’s career, I see a coach who asked for ambitious projects, not specific players. And you do not necessarily need expensive players for an ambitious project.

“The only player that Conte expressly requested was Romelu Lukaku, who went on to score 60 goals for Inter and won the Scudetto, then was sold for twice the money. This too is a myth that needs to be debunked: Conte always took on projects that were destined to grow and he always got results.”

Is it not true that the coach often asks to inherit a squad that is ready to win silverware?

“Some of these labels attached to Conte are laughable. He is like everyone else, he wouldn’t just choose any old project. His results speak for themselves, even in the Italy squad.”

There were reports over the last few days that Rafael Leao had been close to Inter before Conte turned down the signing, so he went to Milan instead.

Although not denying that, Stellini insists there is some precious context to be considered here.

“At that time, you could either sign Lukaku or Leao, so what was the best choice? At that moment, it was definitely Lukaku. Everyone could see Leao was a prospective talent, but a coach chooses based on his needs. It’s ridiculous to talk about this.”

If there are reports that the coach is offering himself to Milan then Stellini is doing little to disavow people of that idea.

“Milan are a strong team, who are second in the table. There is a gap with Inter to be bridged, Stefano Pioli has done great things, but in Conte’s history, he was always able to bridge those gaps.

“Conte arrived at Juve with Milan out in front and Juve got back to winning ways. He went to Inter after Juve won nine consecutive titles, and this gets overturned.”