Tottenham coach Antonio Conte has been heavily linked with the PSG job, but Lorenzo Bettoni explains why the Ligue 1 giants should not go for the Italian tactician.

Conte is undoubtedly one of the most talented and winning coaches in modern football. If you have a club to rebuild or if you want to give a winning mentality to your players, he is definitely the man to go for. Juventus, Inter, Chelsea, and even Italy fans know what it means to have Conte at the helm. He won titles everywhere he’s gone. The task with Italy was a bit more complicated, but he managed to reach the Euro 2016 quarter-finals despite having one of the weakest teams in the history of La Nazionale. Less than two years later, the same group didn’t even manage to qualify for the World Cup under Gianpiero Ventura.

Calciomercato.com and Bild have reported that Conte is now the leading candidate to take over at the Parc des Princes in 2022-23 with the Italian outlet suggesting that the coach has a clause to end his contract in North London at the end of the season, but why shouldn’t PSG go for him?

PSG open talks with Conte as clause in Tottenham contract emerges

Champions League record

PSG don’t need to rebuild and their main target is not to win the Ligue 1, although Pochettino failed to do so last season with Lille crowned France champions in 2020-21. The main target of Nasser Al-Khelaifi is to win the Champions League, but Conte’s record in Europe’s elite competition suggests that he is not the right man for the job. Conte failed to go beyond the group stage during his two-year spell at Inter, contrary to Simone Inzaghi, who qualified for the Round of 16 for the first time in ten years.

Conte’s best season in the competition was during his second season at Juventus when Bayern Munich eliminated him in the quarter-finals. Juventus were knocked out of the group stage in the following campaign (2013-14) being dropped to Europa League, where Conte faced elimination in the semi-finals missing the chance to play the Final at the Allianz Stadium. Barcelona eliminated his Chelsea side in 2017-18. All in all, Conte’s teams have been eliminated from the group stage three times and the coach has won just seven games in the competition since 2013.

Tactical system

Conte’s favourite system is 3-5-2 or 3-4-3. It’s true that Thomas Tuchel used similar tactics before his sacking in January 2021, but the coaches’ approaches are somehow different. The German tactician has a more fluid playing style and is far less dogmatic than the former midfielder.

PSG would need massive investments to adapt to Conte’s requests and it remains to be seen how Leo Messi and Neymar would adapt to his tactics. One of them would surely play up front in a 3-5-2 system, but how about the other? One more thing: aside from Juan Bernat, PSG don’t have another solid option at left-back unless Conte gives Angel Di Maria more defensive duties.

It remains to be seen if Kylian Mbappé would stay in Paris beyond this season as talks to extend his stay at the club have led nowhere so far and the France striker seems increasingly close to joining Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid as a free agent next summer. On the other hand, it must be said that if he does leave and Conte sings with PSG, Romelu Lukaku would naturally become PSG’s primary target over the summer. The Italian tactician will also reunite with Achraf Hakimi if he moves to Paris.

Rapport with big stars

Conte has coached many top players during his career on the dug-out, including Carlos Tevez, Romelu Lukaku and Harry Kane, but has never coached one of the top five clubs in Europe. In general, he’s never stepped inside a dressing room full of top stars.

In November 2018, he was linked with a move to Real Madrid, but Sergio Ramos, who is currently part of the PSG squad, vetoed his possible move to the Santiago Bernabeu. “Respect is earned, not imposed,” the Spain international said when asked about Conte’s possible arrival to the club.

Conte has a winning mentality and is able to turn young and motivated players into top stars. Think about the work he did with Arturo Vidal or Nicolò Barella, who have developed massively under the 52-year-old, becoming some of the most sought-after midfielders in the world. However, one of the big questions regarding Conte to PSG concerns his ability to cope with a dressing room filled with 10-15 superstars rather than 10-15 good players and one or two superstars. Perhaps, it’s already time for a new challenge for the Italian coach, but despite his winning mentality and his outstanding results in his coaching career, hiring him is no guarantee of success, especially in a new, competitive environment such as PSG.

@lorebetto

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