Antonio Conte, Jose Mourinho, Diego Simeone: "Anti-football" - when did winning stop being enough?
Antonio Conte leaving after winning the league with Inter, but Jose Mourinho back at the helm following a disastrous spell at Tottenham. Welcome to the world of 'anti-football' management.
Mourinho’s time at Tottenham was a rollercoaster to say the least but, in reality, it was never an appointment that was going to last.
Spurs fans have a love affair with the cheeky. They adore a flair player. From Ricky Villa to Rafael van der Vaart, from Paul Gascoigne to David Ginola, Tottenham fans will gladly sacrifice results if it means the occasional rabona.
For this reason, the Mourinho experiment was never going to work, despite the fact that, contrary to popular opinion, he actually did a very good job as Tottenham head coach.
When Jose was appointed manager of Tottenham in November 2019, he took over a team in 14th position in the league, 11 points adrift of the top four.
By the end of the season, Mourinho had managed his team into a sixth-place finish, qualifying for the Europa League, and cutting the gap to the top four to seven points.
When Mourinho was sacked in mid-April, his Tottenham team were sat in seventh position in the Premier League, just five points off the top four, as well as being in the Carabao Cup final. Surely that has to be considered progress considering his starting point?
Spurs, of course, had been spoiled by four successive top-four finishes and a Champions League final under his predecessor Mauricio Pochettino, but they failed to win a single trophy during that undoubtedly golden period and the rot had set in, leaving Mourinho to pick up the pieces.
The big issue Mourinho faced at Tottenham, and, indeed, prior to that at Manchester United, is the perception of his style of football; his supposed negativity.
Pragmatic football certainly divides opinion, particularly with the recent successes teams like Pep Guardiola's Manchester City have achieved playing a more expansive style, but in an era where there is a huge emphasis on keeping the ball, it feels as though there is an 'anti-football' revolution rising from beneath.
In fact, it has already begun.
Inter win first Scudetto since Mourinho's departure
Inter Milan were crowned Serie A champions for the first time since 2009/10, and for the first time since Mourinho left the club.
It is ironic then that the first manager to win the Scudetto with Inter since Jose is Antonio Conte, but not just because the two coaches have clashed on a number of matters over the years.
The irony lies in the fact that Conte’s Inter bore a remarkable resemblance to Mourinho’s Inter, both tactically and in spirit.
Mourinho’s crowning glory with Inter was perhaps not beating Bayern Munich in the Champions League final in 2010, but rather beating Barcelona in the semi-final that year.
Barcelona registered more than 73% possession in the second leg of that tie, with Mourinho actually claiming after the match that his side deliberately gave the ball away so as not to lose focus.
The parallels then to Conte’s Inter are almost scary, with the Italian manager having come under scrutiny this season for his “park the bus” approach to football.
Inter averaged a little over 52% possession this season, just the ninth highest in the division, while at the San Siro, Inter have somehow seen even less of the ball, with their average possession stats dropping below 50% when at home.
Inter won Serie A with the lowest possession stats since these sort of metrics began to be recorded; the first step in the re-emergence of 'anti-football'.
Conte's reward? He left San Siro by mutual consent.
The ex-Chelsea boss, who guided Inter to their first Serie A title in 11 seasons had been involved in a tense stand off with the club's owners after proposed cuts to the squad and wage bill.
Inter chairman Steven Zhang reportedly asked Conte to sell players worth up to £70m this summer transfer window and reduce his only salary by 20%.
Conte reportedly said no.
Atleti take another La Liga title
It is not just in Italy that this is taking place either, with Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid repeating their title triumph of 2013-14.
El Cholo’s approach to football is no secret to anyone; win by any means necessary.
Atletico Madrid conceded just 25 goals in La Liga this past season, a total that only Lille can match across the top five major European leagues, with even Manchester City having conceded more.
Indeed, Atletico’s possession statistics are not too dissimilar to those of Inter Milan, the Spanish side averaging 52% possession per match, just the eighth highest in La Liga this season.
Tottenham's possession numbers under Mourinho are also similar to that of these two teams, Spurs averaging 51% of the ball in the Premier League this campaign, just the eighth highest.
A second title for Simeone and Atletico is an incredible achievement, a huge victory over the global conglomerates that are Real Madrid and Barcelona - and a huge victory for 'anti-football'.
Why is 'anti-football' important to betting?
The reason all of this is important is simple. Brilliant football is entertaining, but it limits the chances of the less wealthy to progress.
Guardiola-style football works, undoubtedly so, but only if you have the best players. If every team played in the same way, the team with the most money, and therefore the best players, would always win.
The reason football is so loved, and in particular the reason it is such a popular sport to bet on, is because anyone can win. That unpredictability is the key to the game's success, and that unpredictability comes from alternative playing styles.
If we remove 'anti-football' from football, we quickly remove football. Football needs underdogs, and Mourinho, Conte and Simeone are all underdogs, and they are the teams we love and hate to bet on.
Manchester City are already sent off ridiculously short week on week, but that would be taken to a new extreme if we vanquished 'anti-football', removing any chance of the punter gaining a half-decent payout, and that is something we do not want to happen, both as football fans and as bettors.
Why we should hope Mourinho is a success at Roma
When Manchester City beat Paris St-Germain 2-0 in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final, even Pep Guardiola on that occasion took a more pragmatic approach to the match.
City had as little as 44% possession at The Etihad in that game, demonstrating that when it comes down to it, winning really is the be-all and end-all of football.
Mourinho will face a mixed reception as he takes over as the new head coach of AS Roma at the beginning of next season, but for the sake of football as a whole, as well as for betting purposes, let’s hope he proves the doubters wrong and keeps the bookmakers guessing.
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