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Manchester United are firmly behind Ole Gunnar Solskjaer despite reports the strength of their support was being tested after the club’s humiliating defeat to Liverpool last month. Victory over Tottenham has tempered concerns temporarily at United although Solskjaer must now ensure they continue to build some positive momentum in their next two matches against Atalanta and Manchester City, likely still utilising their newly-implemented 5-3-2 formation.
Events elsewhere, however, may be cause for concern among the Red Devils’ hierarchy with Antonio Conte poised to become Tottenham’s new manager.
The Italian is one of the very best coaches in world football and had been linked with the United job himself after the loss to Liverpool, after which it was suggested Joel Glazer could pull the trigger on Solskjaer.
The talk was that Conte, who usually prefers to wait until the end of a season to take up a new role, would be willing to take over at Old Trafford immediately given the resources he would have available to him.
Instead, it is the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium dugout that he will be patrolling next after Solskjaer’s United sunk Spurs, and ended Nuno Espirito Santo’s reign in the process, with a 3-0 win in north London on Saturday evening.
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But Spurs’ reaction, to go out and get the best manager available on the market, may worry those in the United boardroom.
They remain behind Solskjaer but the Red Devils have produced very few 90-minute performances this season befitting the quality of their squad, aside from their opening weekend destruction of a Leeds’ side whose open style favours United.
Their 3-0 victory over Spurs was as much down to how dreadful the home side as it was how good United were, though the Norwegian’s charges certainly improved thanks to their new system and Edinson Cavani’s return to the team.
Spurs though did not muster a single shot on target all game and there may not even have been a single 6/10 performer on the pitch for Nuno’s side despite the likes of Harry Kane, Son Heung-min and Cristian Romero all playing.
Yet in Conte, Spurs are appointing arguably the best short-term manager in the game. Back in 2011, the 52-year-old took over a Juventus team who had endured back-to-back seventh-placed finishes and then won three successive Serie A titles.
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He replaced Jose Mourinho at Chelsea after the Blues, then the defending champions, slumped to a 10th-placed finish. But Conte immediately got the team back to their best and they romped to a title in his debut 2016-17 campaign, winning 93 points.
At Inter Milan, there was no immediate silverware with a Europa League final defeat the closest they came to a trophy. Yet the Nerazzurri lost just four league matches and missed out on the title to Juventus by a single point.
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In their eight previous seasons they had failed to finish above second but after they finished second with the league’s best defence and its second-best attack, Inter won their first title in a decade in his second season (2020-21).
He now inherits a Spurs side who certainly will not win the league this season given they trail his former club Chelsea by 10 points after just 10 matches and have nowhere near the quality of squad that Chelsea, City and Liverpool have.
Yet they are only five points adrift of the in-form West Ham in fourth and that is having played three of the four pre-season title favourites in City, Chelsea and United (although all three were on home soil).
If Conte can repeat the quickfire turnaround he has enjoyed at other clubs, and certainly he will improve Spurs defensively and get them far more organised and rigid, it is United who will be most concerned of the other big clubs.
Chelsea, Liverpool and City all seem assured of top-four finishes this season although Pep Guardiola’s Citizens slipped to defeat at home to Crystal Palace at the weekend.
United are the most vulnerable of the four clubs expected to contend for the Premier League trophy this season and if Spurs can find some momentum, it is the Red Devils’ place in the top four that is most at risk.
Even though United came into this season dreaming of winning a 21st title, the Glazers’ main priority is widely believed to be qualifying for the Champions League due to the financial benefits of being in the competition.
Yet the club’s American owners will be desperately hoping that keeping Solskjaer, instead of axing him and moving for Conte, does not backfire on them. It will not be a good look if they miss out and Conte takes an inferior Spurs squad back to the Champions League at their expense.
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