With Fabio Paratici already officially announced as the club’s new Sporting Director, Spurs are set to announce Paulo Fonseca as the next manager on a contract which will initially run for two years with an option for a third.
Paulo Fonseca is expected to sign his contract as new Tottenham manager within Wednesday. Daniel Levy has approved the decision, Fabio Paratici wanted him strongly. New era set to start for Spurs. ⚪️🇵🇹 #THFC #Spurs
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) June 14, 2021
The former Roma manager had an unsuccessful spell at Roma after becoming one of Europe’s most sought-after managers during his time at Shakhtar Donetsk, largely thanks to a glowing reference from Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola, who described Fonseca’s team as one of the best he ever faced, following the Ukrainian outfit’s 2-1 victory at home to Manchester City in the Champions League back in 2017.
👀 Pep Guardiola full of praise for Paulo Fonseca's Shakhtar Donetsk side a couple of years ago.#THFC #COYS pic.twitter.com/yOLtWr13m8
— SpursRelated™ (@Spurs_Related_) June 11, 2021
Fonseca set his team up back then in a 4-2-3-1 formation with lots of emphasis on fast and decisive counter-attacking football, but when playing teams domestically, Shakhtar would dominate possession in the same fashion as Guardiola’s Manchester City side.
His adaptability is a rare quality in managers, and he took that quality to the Italian capital when he was appointed as manager of Roma, despite the club being on the verge of a takeover and in financial disarray.
The task was a big one, and as his favoured set-up wasn’t as suited to his Roma side compared to his time in Portugal with Pacos de Ferreira and then Braga, and then with Shakhtar, Fonseca switched to a 3-4-1-2 / 3-4-2-1 style formation with marauding wing-backs – similar to Antonio Conte’s style.
While his possession based style of football was very entertaining to watch, the lack of goals up front and the leakiness of the defence thwarted Fonseca’s hopes for Champions League football, and he was replaced with Jose Mourinho, effectively completing a swap deal between Spurs and Roma as neither side is required to pay compensation for a manager they let go.
The biggest concern I have over what I’ve read on Fonseca over the last 24 hours is his lack of defensive organisation. Spurs currently have a defence that seems to continuously worsen; Fonseca arrives with 109 goals conceded in his 2 seasons at Roma. Quite worrying.
— Noz Ahmed (@NozAhmed) June 10, 2021
So is the appointment risky? Of course. Fonseca isn’t a proved manager in Europe’s top five leagues, but he did win over 50% of his games in charge at Roma, which can’t be criticised too much especially considering their circumstances.
Paratici loves Fonseca, and he recommended him during his time at Juventus, so our conclusion is that we should trust the man who has been described by former employers, colleagues and even critics as one of the best if not the best sporting director in the world.
The style of football that we enjoyed under Mauricio Pochettino could return, and with Paratici on board too and plenty of new signings set to arrive at the club, a new era is upon us and if we can hold onto Harry Kane, it’s very possible that Fonseca will win over the fans relatively quickly.