There is a section of the Tottenham fanbase who were only half-joking when “Stellini In” began to trend again as Sunday’s 2-0 victory over West Ham maintained their assistant manager’s 100 per cent record in the dugout.
Disentangling Cristian Stellini’s ideas from Antonio Conte’s is not easy, especially when he admitted he had been receiving texts from the boss throughout the afternoon. Conte has stayed in Italy to continue to his recovery from gallbladder surgery, having initially rushed back for the defeats to Leicester and Milan.
In his absence, Stellini picked up where he left off. He had already overseen wins against Marseille (when Conte was serving a touchline ban) and Manchester City (after Conte’s surgery) – arguably Spurs’ two most important results of the season. With another three points, he has now guided them back into the top four.
The biggest difference in Spurs’ three games under their assistant coach has been in xGA (expected goals against) and albeit from a very small sample size, there is an encouraging trend. Generally, in the 2022-23 season, they have an average xGA of just under 1.7 goals per game.
That is exactly where it was against Marseille on the night they topped their Champions League group courtesy of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s late goal, but against Manchester City it was down to just 0.9. Against an admittedly under-par West Ham it was just 0.37.
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Leeds United's board have shown no leadership, logic or planning - this mess is all their fault20 February, 2023It is not a by-product of having more possession, either. In fact in Stellini’s games, Spurs have spent considerably less time on the ball – an average of 42 per cent, compared to around 50 per cent over the course of the season. The performance against City was particularly controlled, when Spurs were dominated in the early exchanges and then held onto the lead from the 15th minute onwards following Harry Kane’s record-breaking goal.
There was an element of risk involved, leaving Bernardo Silva relatively free in midfield, but the press was sufficiently co-ordinated so that Hojbjerg and Rodrigo Bentancur could afford to push higher up the pitch.
West Ham, by contrast, missed an opportunity to exploit Bentancur’s absence. Declan Rice was unimposing, dispossessed before the goal by Dejan Kulusevski, and what David Moyes got right in the first half was quickly reversed in the second. West Ham had allowed very few gaps in between the back three and the midfield, which made for a tedious opening 45 minutes.
However, effectively having another defender in Ben Davies on that side rather than Ivan Perisic allowed Spurs to commit greater numbers forward. The persistence of Richarlison and later the introduction of Son Heung-min eventually dispersed Nayef Aguerd, Angelo Ogbonna and Thilo Kehrer.
Where West Ham normally rely on forcing the ball out wide, that played straight into the hands of a resurgent Emerson Royal, who is no longer the scapegoat. Conte’s decision to start new signing Pedro Porro at his expense in the 4-1 thrashing at Leicester looked like an error, with two of Emerson’s best displays for the club coming either side of it.
The irony is that since the Brazilian’s attacking limitations, particularly his crosses, have been recognised, he is almost playing a semi-sweeping role on the right of the back three and yet he has also been scoring – once in the 4-2 loss at City and another against West Ham.
With or without Conte, for Spurs’ defence to be effective it has relied on Cristian Romero. Notwithstanding the red card against City, he had totally neutralised Erling Haaland, just as he did with Michail Antonio.
There is one myth that pervades, that Stellini is much more eager to change things than Conte. At Marseille, although he made two substitutions in 45 minutes, one was enforced by Son’s injury.
Against City his first came in the 79th minute; on Sunday it was the 68th. Along with Ryan Mason, he has been given some autonomy, but many of the key tactical decisions are still Conte’s.
That is hardly surprising. The 48-year-old is very much Conte’s man and should the head coach move on this summer, he will almost certainly go with him. It will be more the pity for Spurs, where Stellini is developing into something of a cult hero in his own right.
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