The Conte effect: how Tottenham have improved in less than two months

Antonio Conte has already managed to turn around Tottenham’s season after less than two months in charge.

The 52-year-old Italian coach took over from the dismissed Nuno Espirito Santo in early November and he hasn’t yet lost with the North London side in the Premier League, revitalising the team after their sluggish start to the season.

In his eight weeks with Spurs, Conte has won four of his six Premier League matches, drawing the other team. The team sit only six points away from the Champions League spots, and with three games in hand, they could easily nudge local rivals Arsenal off 4th. His work has seen him average 2.33 points per match in the league so far, a sign of his immediate impact in the capital.

An important part of the Italian coach’s work is his relationship with talismanic striker Harry Kane. The Englishman pushed for a move to Manchester City in the summer but after that failed to materialise, many were concerned that he would struggle to find motivation with the Lillywhites, something that Conte has managed to solve, at least for the time being.

A sign of his quick impact is also his relationship with the Tottenham fans – the supporters have already given him his own song, which goes as follows: “Antonio Conte: he eats Spaghetti, he drinks Moretti, he hates f…Chelsea.”

Video | Tottenham fans’ new song for Conte: ‘He drinks Moretti and hates Chelsea’

A characteristic element of any Conte team is the work rate he imposes on his players; Spurs have averaged 115km distance covered per match since his arrival, the best in the Premier League. This is a significant increase from the 100km distance covered per match average under his predecessor, which was the lowest in the division.

Results under Conte in the league include a 2-2 draw with title challengers Liverpool, a 2-0 win over everyone’s second team Brentford, a 3-0 win over Patrick Vieira’s Crystal Palace and a 2-1 win over Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United.

Spurs have also qualified to the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup and the former Juventus coach will be hoping to guide the North London side to their first trophy in over a decade, although they’ll have to beat his former side Chelsea in the semi-finals to get the chance.