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Antonio Conte’s worst moments at Tottenham

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The Antonio Conte era at Tottenham Hotspur is finally over.

Spurs have confirmed that they have now parted ways with the Italian head coach little over a year-and-a-half after he joined the club.

Conte was not expected to extend his stay at Tottenham beyond the summer, but after such a dismal run of results and performances, chairman Daniel Levy decided to cut the cord immediately.

While there were certainly highs for Conte’s Spurs, there were also terrifying lows. Here are the very worst moments of his tenure in north London.

Antonio Conte, head coach of Tottenham Hotspur speaks to the...

“Welp.” / SOPA Images/GettyImages

The answer is no. You could be the biggest Football Manager nerd out there, you could even live in Slovenia – you did not know who NS Mura were until they beat Tottenham.

As Spurs were forced to forfeit the final game of the group stage due to a coronavirus outbreak, a 2-1 loss in Maribor effectively eliminated them the UEFA Europa Conference League – a competition they had a great chance of winning.

Andrew Madley, Antonio Conte, Thomas Tuchel

Thomas Tuchel had Conte’s number / Robin Jones/GettyImages

The Tottenham-Chelsea rivalry has become particularly one-sided in recent years, with the Blues consistently compounding Spurs’ misery.

Conte was given a great chance to get one over his former side when the two were drawn together in the semi-finals of the 2021/22 Carabao Cup, meaning Tottenham and Chelsea would meet three times in as many weeks.

Spurs lost all three, failing to score in any of their meetings.

Josh Coburn

Spurs were beaten on Teesside / Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/GettyImages

With Tottenham out of Europe and falling to Chelsea in the Carabao Cup, their only hope of winning silverware in 2021/22 came in the FA Cup.

They were given a rather favourable draw away at Championship side Middlesbrough in round five. But despite playing their strongest team, Spurs were beaten 1-0 after extra-time.

Maybe it was for the best as they would have played Chelsea in the quarter-finals.

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Sheffield United v Tottenham Hotspur: Emirates FA Cup Fifth Round

It happened again / Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/GettyImages

The writers of Groundhog Day wouldn’t be allowed to get away with this narrative.

This season, Spurs were again drawn away at a Championship outfit in the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Conte – at this point managing from Italy following gallbladder surgery – and his coaching team selected a weakened XI and were duly punished, again being dumped out following a 1-0 loss. A home tie with Blackburn Rovers awaited them in the quarter-finals.

Tottenham’s trophy drought goes on.

Antonio Conte, Dejan Kulusevski, Davinson Sanchez

Why? / Clive Rose/GettyImages

The moment that Conte effectively handed in a resignation.

Spurs trailed AC Milan 1-0 in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League last 16 tie and had failed to really lay a glove on them over the 170 minutes that had been played to that point.

Cristian Romero had just been sent off, but the Rossoneri were still not overly inclined to add to their lead, while Tottenham still had to score.

Conte brought on defender Davinson Sanchez for forward Dejan Kulusevski. Fans booed and chanted the name of Mauricio Pochettino.

He was done.

Levy might have given Conte some leeway to finish the season had he just deflected his answers in his post-match presser following the Southampton draw, but he instead took a giant can of gasoline and poured it all over the Spurs fire.

He aggressively questioned his players’ commitment, calling them selfish and saying they are overly protected from criticism. He wondered why Tottenham had not swept up silverware under this ownership. For a man who only recently recovered from surgery, he was lively and fiery.

Conte dropped the mic and ended his Tottenham career.

On this edition of Oh What a Night, part of the 90min podcast network, Sean Walsh & Jude Summerfield discuss the issues at Tottenham Hotspur and who is to blame for where the club find themselves. If you can’t see this embed, click here to listen to the podcast!



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EPL

Mohamed Salah’s record in the Europa League

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Though Liverpool have become accustomed to the Champions League, their star man Mohamed Salah is no stranger to Europe’s second-tier competition, the Europa League.

Jurgen Klopp’s outfit now have time to reflect and recuperate after finishing 5th in the Premier League and out of the Champions League spots for the first time since the 2014/15 campaign.

Unai Emery – now in charge of high-flying Aston Villa – put the sword to Liverpool in the final of the 2015/16 Europa League final, with Coke’s second-half double proving crucial for Sevilla that day.

As they exchange their Tuesday and Wednesday nights for Thursday’s, Klopp, who had pledged to make the Europa League “our competition” will look to Salah in particular to prevent a repeat of that torrid night in Basel seven years ago.

Mohamed Salah, Frank Lampard

Mohamed Salah battling it out with Chelsea captain Frank Lampard / Michael Regan/GettyImages

FC Basel plummeted out of the Champions League after failing to meet their aim of reaching the group stage in 2012/13.

The Egyptian King, in the infant years of his career, made more appearances from the bench than he did as a nailed-on starter in Basel’s Europa League campaign but he was a star nonetheless.

Salah scored his first of eventually many goals on the European stage in the quarter-finals as Basel edged past Tottenham on penalties after drawing 4-4 on aggregate scoring.

His scoring exploits did not halt there as his future employers Chelsea were at the hands of a Salah double in west London. Although the Egypt international crashed out of the competition thanks to the Blues, his Europa League showings earned him a rightful move to the English giants a few months later.

Salah helped Basel to their best-ever finish in the competition, performing when it mattered the most and often being the difference-maker.

Mohamed Salah

Mohamed Salah celebrating his goal in Fiorentina’s 2-0 win at home against Tottenham / Gabriele Maltinti/GettyImages

Wedged in between his other two Europa League campaigns came his least successful one, with just a goal and assist apiece.

12 days after scoring his first goal for the club against Sassuolo, Salah added one to his European CV against, once again, Tottenham. Spurs had become a familiar sight for the tricky winger and a match-up that he flourished in.

Bearing in mind his spell in Fiorentina was merely a loan, Salah enjoyed positivity for the majority of the season and spurred his side into the semi-finals of the Europa League. His influence – goals aside – was undeniable, though his game time was limited on the centre stage.

A theme begins to reoccur with Salah and the Europa League as he helped Fiorentina – very much a surprise package of the 2014/15 Europa League season – reach the semi-finals of the competition for only the third time in the entirety of the club’s history.

Mohamed Salah

Mohamed Salah celebrating his goal in the first leg of Roma’s round of 16 tie against Lyon / Jean Catuffe/GettyImages

Salah’s most recent Europa League campaign came just before his high-profile move to Liverpool, featuring in six games for Roma in 2016/17.

The Italian side endured a torrid campaign in Europe, preventing Salah from showing the footballing world his undeniable talent. Domestically, Roma finished in second place and secured themselves a spot at Europe’s top table for the following campaign, but cracked under pressure when vying for European silverware in the same season.

Neither goal amounted for anything in this term, either. Roma’s four-goal thumping over West Ham’s conquerors in Astra Giurgiu was already wrapped up before Salah’s effort came, and he managed to grab his second of the competition in a last 16 defeat to Lyon.



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Erling Haaland set to beat Premier League record set by Thierry Henry 20 years ago

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Manchester City’s goalscorer-in-chief has set the Premier League alight in his inaugural campaign, breaking record after record and is closing in one Thierry Henry’s long-standing achievement.

Though goals are Erling Haaland’s forte, he has also dished out the odd assist, taking his goal involvement tally to a highly respectable 44. His latest lay-off to Phil Foden at Brighton matched the Premier League record of total goal involvements in a single season.

Arsenal legend Thierry Henry set the same record two decades prior, but the new kid on the block will want to leave the Frenchman in the dust by surpassing it in City’s finale at Brentford.

Both Premier League cult heroes in their own right, but with Haaland’s career still in his infancy, he has all the sufficient tools to surpass Henry’s legacy. Marry that up with Pep Guardiola’s ideology and we have an all-timer on our hands.

His arrival divided opinion: some believed he was the world-beating attacker that City craved while some were under the impression he couldn’t hit the heights of the likes of Harry Kane and Mohamed Salah. Oh, how wrong were they.

Guardiola muttered that Sergio Aguero was irreplaceable upon his departure but has been proved entirely wrong by Haaland’s first season in England. An audacious chip over Lukasz Fabianski recorded his record-breaking 35th goal of the campaign, but was just the latest of many to remind us what an alien talent the Spaniard has at his disposal.

Month

Goals

Assists

August

9

1

September

2

0

October

6

2

November

1

0

December

3

0

January

4

0

Feburary

2

1

March

1

1

April

6

2

May

2

1

Two hat-tricks in August had rival fans trembling and City fans relishing in the presence of their new focal point, but few understood what the phenom was capable of.

Next up for the 22-year-old is to eclipse old-timer Dixie Dean, who set the all-time goal record across all competitions – a total of 63 back in 1927/28.

At the rate that Haaland is excelling at, Alan Shearer and Andy Cole’s joint-record of 47 goal involvements in a 42-game campaign could be his next season, although he has four fewer games to manage it.

Should he remain in the Manchester City ranks for years to come, surely Shearer’s 260-goal record is in jeopardy?

Month

Goals

Assists

August

2

2

September

4

2

October

0

1

November

3

2

December

2

0

January

6

1

February

2

2

March

0

2

April

3

3

May

2

5

Amazingly, Henry failed to secure the Golden Boot in this monumental season, with Ruud van Nistelrooy taking the award back to Manchester with him.

The former France international remains the only player to notch 20 in both goals and assists, though, and given Haaland’s speciality in being the finisher rather than the provider, this record seems to be safe for the foreseeable future.

Despite the astonishing nature of the Arsenal forward’s exploits in the attacking third, they were still five points adrift of the league summit as none other than Van Nistelrooy’s United won their seventh Premier League title.





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All permutations for Europe and relegation

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The end of the Premier League season is upon us and it has certainly been a thrilling campaign with lots of drama along the way.

While the title may have already been wrapped up by Manchester City at the expense of Arsenal, there is still a huge amount to play for all over the rest of the table on the final day of the Premier League season.

The primary focus will be on the relegation zone where only one team has already had their fate sealed, which is Southampton. Some eyes will also be on the various European qualification spots. Here are all of the permutations you need to know about to enjoy the final day of the 2022/23 Premier League season.

Read 90min’s full match previews here

The Champions League race in the Premier League has been thrilling this season, but Manchester United actually brought it to a close on Thursday night when they easily beat Chelsea 4-1. It means that Manchester City, Arsenal, Man Utd and Newcastle will be the Premier League’s representatives in the Champions League next season.

All that is yet to be decided in the top four is who will finish in third place. Man Utd are now two points ahead of Newcastle so they just need to win against Fulham to make sure that they keep third. If they draw and Newcastle win away at Chelsea, the Geordies would nab third due to goal difference. The only real desire to finish third is due to bragging rights and stature, rather than anything too tangible beyond a couple of million in prize money (which, relatively speaking, isn’t a lot).

Position

Team

Goal difference

Points

1

Manchester City

62

89

2

Arsenal

40

81

3

Manchester United

14

72

4

Newcastle

35

70

Similar to the Champions League battle, the Europa League battle was expected to go down to the wire. As it turns out, Liverpool are guaranteed to finish in fifth place and Brighton are guaranteed to finish in sixth place, meaning they will be England’s Europa League participants next season.

There is actually a chance that three teams enter the Europa League next season from the Premier League, but only if West Ham win the Europa Conference League final against Fiorentina. That has no bearing on the Premier League table going into the final day.

The Europa Conference League slot is where the interest lies on Sunday, with three teams fighting for seventh place in the Premier League. Seventh in the Premier League gets this spot because Man Utd won the Carabao Cup and they already have a European spot. The teams in question are Aston Villa, Tottenham and Brentford.

Aston Villa are the team in pole position so all they need to do is equal or better the results of Brentford and Tottenham. If Villa are beaten, Brentford do not win and Spurs draw, Spurs will get seventh on goal difference.

Tottenham will also get seventh if they win and Villa draw or lose, while Brentford are going to have to beat Man City and hope both Villa and Tottenham draw or lose if they are to qualify for Europe for the first time. The Bees are certainly the outside bet.

Position

Team

Goal difference

Points

5

Liverpool

28

66

6

Brighton

20

62

7

Aston Villa

4

58

8

Tottenham

4

57

9

Brentford

11

56

This is where the majority of the focus will be on the final day of the 2022/23 Premier League season, as three teams are all vying to finish in the place above the relegation zone.

Everton are currently the team in a position of strength, while Leeds United and Leicester City are in the bottom three. All of the power lies with Everton as if they win their game, Leeds and Leicester’s results are irrelevant.

Leicester and Leeds are level on points. Leicester need to win their game and hope that Everton either lose or draw. Leicester can finish level on points with Everton if they win and Everton draw, but Leicester’s goal difference is better and they would be safe. They also have a better goal difference than Leeds so if Everton draw and both Leicester and Leeds win, it is Leicester that would be safe.

Leeds also simply have to win their game and hope that Leicester lose or draw, with Everton also losing. If Leeds win and Everton draw, they would be level on points and Leeds would need to beat Tottenham by three clear goals in order to get the goal difference swing on Everton.

The clearest way of viewing it is that if Everton win, it is game over. If Leicester and Leeds both lose or draw, it is game over regardless of what the Toffees do.

Position

Team

Goal difference

Points

17

Everton

-24

33

18

Leicester

-18

31

19

Leeds

-27

31

20

Southampton

-37

24



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