View: Luis Enrique style suits Tottenham perfectly with Spurs talks reportedly set to start
With Tottenham well and truly into a 2021-esque managerial hunt, rumours linking Luis Enrique to North London are starting to intensify.
Some 23 days on from the eventual departure of Antonio Conte, for some, Daniel Levy and co are starting to encroach on the infamous 72-day managerless summer of 2021; a period which as fans will remember eventually led to the underwhelming appointment of Nuno Espirito Santo.
Since Conte’s departure, former Bayern Munich man Julien Nagelsmann has been linked closest to the Spurs job, then followed swiftly by club legend Mauricio Pochettino – but albeit by fans more than anyone.
However, breaking news via talkSPORT on Wednesday (19 April) has seen Nagelsmann in line to take the reigns at Chelsea, with Spurs now eying a swoop for Luis Enrique.
Whilst initially, it may seem as though Tottenham are settling for Chelsea’s leftovers, Spurs fans can take refuge in the fact that is not the case.
Far from it.
The Athletic reported in early March that Enrique was in fact Tottenham’s preferred candidate for the job; that he sat atop Fabio Paratici’s four-man shortlist ahead of Frankfurt’s Oliver Glasner, Sporting Lisbon’s Ruben Amorim, and rather audaciously Napoli’s Luciano Spalletti (The Athletic).
Most recently coaching the Spain national side to within a penalty shootout away from the Euro 2020 final, then to a somewhat underwhelming tournament in the Qatar World Cup as they exited the competition at the hands of surprise package Morroco, recent years haven’t been overly kind to Enrique.
Granted, his recent work isn’t a budding portfolio of success, but be assured, his achievements at club level are more than impressive – he would arrive with a fine pedigree.
The Spaniard’s best years in the dugout no doubt came at Barcelona, where he boasted a staggering 2.41 points per game record as he oversaw what at the time was the best club side in the world (Transfermarkt).
During his time with the Blaugrana, Enrique lifted three Spanish Cups, two La Liga titles and a Champions League, being named as the world’s best coach in 2014/15 as he guided Barcelona to a famous treble for only the second time in the club’s history.
Throughout this time, and similarly, when he was in charge of Spain, Enrique religiously deployed an attack-minded 4-3-3, often using one defensive midfielder with two more advanced in support of a forward three.
Considering the current makeup of Spurs’ squad, it’s not hard to envision who goes where in Enrique’s system, with a front three of Harry Kane, Heung-Min Son, and Dejan Kulusevski all but picking themselves, leaving the Spaniard with a choice of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Yves Bissouma, Oliver Skipp, and Rodrigo Bentancur in midfield.
Moreover, with the likes of Tanguy N’Dombele and Giovanni Lo Celso still on Spurs’ books, it’s not unimaginable that as attack-minded central midfielders, Enrique could be the man to finally get the best out of one of both of the duo.
Whether or not he would arrive this season remains to be seen, but regardless, Enrique could be a shrewd appointment by Spurs, as he represents a blend of attacking football and experience that could ultimately help drive the club forward and given the current state of play, one which Levy would be foolish not to capitalise on.
In other Tottenham news, Vincent Kompany could also be an option to take over at Spurs