Tottenham boss Antonio Conte's most iconic managerial moments

Albert Pearson
27 November 2021

The new Spurs boss will be looking to add to a host of memorable moments and achievements after taking over at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

From dominating Italian soccer and becoming one of the best coaches in the world to match fixing scandals and lawsuits, Antonio Conte has provided some iconic moments during his highly entertaining managerial career.

The Italian was out of the game after leading Inter Milan to the Serie A title in 2020/21. However, the lure of Tottenham has proved too great and Conte is back in the Premier League...and back in London.

Stints with Chelsea, Juventus and the Italian national team have seen Conte establish himself as one of European soccer's leading coaches, with his passionate touchline antics earning almost as many column inches.

From fallouts to multiple honours and being crowned king of Italy, Planet Sport looks at what has already been a fascinating managerial career ahead of his new assignment at Spurs.

✍️ We are delighted to announce the appointment of Antonio Conte as our Head Coach on a contract until the summer of 2023, with an option to extend.
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) November 2, 2021

The Conte Formation

Antonio Conte has made an impact at every team he has coached, instilling a winning mentality at them all.

The Italian coach is renowned for his tactical obsession and it is something he tries to drill into every single one of players during training.

This obsession with tactics gave birth to what is now dubbed as the 'Conte Formation'. A formation that was in fact relevant during his playing days, it consists of a three-man defence, with wing-backs as opposed to full-backs, and two dominating box-to-box midfielders.

During Conte's time at Juventus, where he achieved great success, it was also noticeable that several other clubs in the Serie A had started to copy his formation due to its effect on games.

When Frank Lampard's Chelsea side beat Tottenham Hotspur in a league game in 2019 while utilising a similar formation to that of Conte's, a disgruntled Jose Mourinho stated after the match that Lampard was now just a 'Conte clone'.

Turning Juventus into a formidable force

Following brief initial success in his managerial career at sides including Bari and Siena, Conte was announced as the new head coach of Juventus in 2011, a club that he had already achieved legendary status with during his playing days.

Conte didn't take long to make an instant impact at his beloved club, transforming them, literally, into an unbeatable side. Juventus finished Conte's debut league season undefeated, the first team to do so since Serie A expanded.

Not only did Conte guide Juve to the title in his first season, he also got them to their first Coppa Italia final since 2004. However, they went on to lose the showpiece, which was their only loss in domestic competitions that season.

Having helped guide Juventus back to the summit of Italian soccer, Conte's dominance didn't stop there as he guided the Old Lady to consecutive Serie A titles in his second season.

In Conte's third season, Juventus clinched yet another Serie A title, breaking the record for the most points in the league - 102.

It wasn't just an Italian record, it was also the highest points tally across the top 10 leagues in Europe. On top of that, Juventus recorded a perfect home record with 19 wins from 19 games.

Match-fixing scandal

Being a manager wasn't always going to be an easy ride for Conte, as he found out in 2012 when he received a 10- month ban for his role in a match-fixing scandal.

During his time in charge at Serie B side Siena, Conte was accused of failure to report a match-fixing attempt.

According to reports, Conte was present when the owner of Siena had indirectly asked the players to draw the match in order for himself to return a large profit. The match did indeed end in a draw and suspicions started to arise.

There were further accusations over another game that had been fixed while Conte was in charge - this time a 1-0 defeat. Despite having no role in the match fixing itself, it was deemed that Conte had withheld information, resulting in the ban.

Conte maintained his innocence throughout, stating that he had no idea about the match fixing and would lodge an appeal against the verdict.

Following the backing of his club at the time, Juventus, further appeals were lodged which reduced his touchline ban from 10 months to just four.

Following more legal proceedings in 2016, Conte was eventually cleared of any wrongdoing. "Today finally draws a line under this ugly story," Conte said.

However, it wasn't the last Conte would hear of the scandal. Following a feud during his time in the Premier League, Jose Mourinho would aim a dig at Conte in a press conference stating: "What never happened to me and will never happen is to be suspended for match-fixing."

Conte would respond brutally by saying: "I think when there are these types of comments, comments where you try to offend the person and don't know the truth, then you are a little man."

Touchline antics

To say that Conte is a passionate man when it came to the game would be an understatement, as his touchline antics show.

From the first whistle to the very last, Conte cuts an animated figure on the touchline, often screaming instructions and reacting to every kick of the ball.

These passionate antics have become a vital part of Conte's coaching tactics and are often used to inspire his sides.

This was most notable during his spell at Chelsea when they ran out 4-0 winners against rivals Manchester United in the Premier League. Conte celebrated each goal emphatically with the fans as they demolished an admittedly poor United side.

After the game, Mourinho expressed his frustration with Conte's antics, labelling him as a "clown"'. Mourinho also reportedly told Conte that his hysterical celebrations had humiliated himself and his side.

These antics have occasionally landed Conte in hot water, too.

In his final season in charge of Inter, Conte clashed with the referee in a Serie A game against Udinese, protesting the amount of stoppage time in their draw.

Conte was found guilty of using threatening phrases towards the referee in the tunnel. This was after Conte had been sent off for dissent in the closing minutes of the game. He later received a two-game ban and a hefty fine.

Chelsea heroics

Conte was appointed as the new head coach of Chelsea in the summer of 2016 following a spell as head coach of Italy.

Conte got off to a flying start with his new club, with a switch in formation back to his preferred 3-4-3 helping Chelsea go on an impressive 13-match winning run, breaking their own club record and equalling the league record in the process.

Conte also became the first ever Premier League manager to win three consecutive Manager of the Month awards. Quite some achievement for his first few months in charge.

Chelsea maintained their form, winning the Premier League with two games to spare.

In the process of winning the league, Conte's Chelsea set a new Premier League record for the most wins in a single season, with 30 from 38 games.

Conte went on to secure a further trophy the following season, with the Blues beating long-standing rivals Manchester United in the FA Cup final.

Chelsea downfall

Despite it seeming rosy from the outside, behind the scenes trouble was brewing for Conte.

The FA Cup win failed to mask a disappointing defence of their Premier League title, with Chelsea finishing fifth place and out of the Champions League spots.

Training ground fall-outs with players and the exclusion from the squad of star striker Diego Costa were said to be to blame for the slide.

Conte and Costa had endured numerous clashes, including one surrounding the match fitness of the striker which reportedly ended in Conte telling Costa to join a team in China instead.

This clash of personalities escalated with Conte allegedly sending a text message to Costa informing him that he was no longer part of his plans for the club.

Costa was ordered to train with the reserves while Conte scoured the transfer market for his successor. However, Costa refused and instead remained on holiday in Brazil, forcing a move back to his former club Atletico Madrid.

Conte's relationship with the Chelsea squad never recovered. One of Costa's closest teammates, Willian, appeared to block out Conte on a picture of their FA Cup celebrations which he uploaded onto Instagram.

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, never short of excuses for a managerial dismissal, subsequently fired the Italian.

The sacking reportedly cost Chelsea a whopping £26.6million in fees, with Conte winning a claim against the club for unfair dismissal.

After a dream start to life at Chelsea, it certainly ended on a sour note for the Italian.

King of Italy once again

Conte returned to his home country when he was appointed as the new head coach of Inter Milan for the 2019/20 season.

The former Juve boss was brought in to try and stop his former club's dominance of Serie. Juventus had won eight consecutive league titles and it was tasked to Conte to put an end to what he had started.

Inter Milan hadn't won the league for 10 years, although they almost managed it Conte's first season at the club, finishing in second place to Juventus yet again. Conte also guided Inter to the Europa League final, which they lost to Spanish side Sevilla.

These two end-of-season disappointments would spur his side on to achieve great things the following season.

With Romelu Lukaku firing in the goals, Conte's Inter side dominated and were crowned Serie A champions with four games remaining.

Conte had achieved almost the unthinkable by knocking his former club, Cristiano Ronaldo and all, off the pinnacle of the Italian game.

It had taken Conte only two years to form a squad capable of becoming Italian champions, which he later described as being "one of the most important successes" of his career.

However, following the conclusion of the season, and with debts mounting at the San Siro club, Conte opted to move on again and seek another fresh challenge. Now, it seems, that challenge is Tottenham Hotspur.