Davinson Sanchez praises Antonio Conte’s impact at Tottenham

Antonio Conte turned Tottenham in record time thanks to perfectionism and attention to every detail, according to Spurs defender Davinson Sanchez.

The Italian manager took over from Nuno Espirito Santo in early November and toppled a team that was losing goals and drifting down the table.

Spurs enter Sunday’s game with Crystal Palace six points behind Arsenal, fourth, with three games in hand, and are unbeaten in the Premier League since Conte’s arrival, with 11 out of 15 possible points.

In contrast, in the seven league appearances before taking office, Tottenham took just six out of 21 points and conceded 16 goals, starting with a 3-0 defeat at Palace in September. Under Conte, they’ve only scored three goals in five games, a record broken only by leaders Manchester City in the same span, and Sanchez says that’s due to the Italian’s perfectionism and finesse. details with his players.

“Since he’s been here we’ve opened up to his ideas to discover his philosophy, his way of working, the way he wants everything to be done, detail by detail.

“To forwards H (Kane), Sonny, Lucas (Moura) or Stevie (Bergwijn), he says, ‘I want that from you, and then with the quality that you have, you can play with the freedom that you always had. .

Conte was tasked with raising the wayward North Londoners to the rankings

The Italian has tightened the Spurs defensively and they are having a good run

“With us, defenders, it’s different because it’s up to us to close the doors on the pitch. In my position, you have to do almost everything perfectly in every game in order to avoid conceding goals or chances. That’s why he explained everything to us, detail by detail, to make it very clear. The concepts are not difficult to grasp, and when you are open to ideas, it is easier for them (the coaches) and for us. ‘

And while the ex-Chelsea manager is a notoriously tough builder, Sanchez says he’s tough on himself as well. “Everyone pushes, him first, then us. We are going in the right direction and we are building to be a difficult team to face.

Tottenham have had four games canceled due to bad weather and illness over the past month, and Sanchez says it allowed them to spend more time on the training ground learning their new manager’s methods.

“Right now, we are building. In this period we did not play Burnley, Rennes, Brighton and Leicester, we worked in training on the way we press, our movements at the back, the positions of the attackers and midfielders. He goes further in what he wants, and the results are his talk. He has shown in the past what he is capable of, he’s a world-class manager, and for us it’s a start. ‘

Sanchez says Conte’s perfectionism and attention to detail helped them get back on track.

Palace is also under new management, after Roy Hodgson was replaced by Patrick Vieira this summer, and Sanchez said: “He’s doing well. The players have to learn what the new manager wants, his style. They’re scoring more goals, getting good results against good opponents, so we don’t want to take any chances against them, and our approach and preparation will be the same as we’ve been doing recently.

Conte also praised Vieira, who was a Juventus player before the Italian took power, and then saw Serie A up close. Great Italian coach Giovanni Traappatoni once said that Conte’s success as a manager was due to the fact that he had played as a midfielder, seeing all aspects of the game, and Conte now says that this helped Vieira to become a successful coach.

“I’m not surprised because Vieira was a fantastic midfielder, and if you are a midfielder you have more possibilities to become a coach. In this position you see both offensive and defensive situations. J “was sure Patrick would become a great manager. He’s doing great and I’m happy for him.”