Inside Antonio Conte's brutal methods as he looks to transform Spurs

Stringent diets, gruelling runs and painstaking video analysis… inside Antonio Conte’s brutal methods as he looks to turn Spurs into trophy contenders (with the help of THREE fitness coaches!)

• Tottenham are in South Korea on their pre-season tour ahead of the new term
• Antonio Conte has pushed his side to their limits as he bids to get them fitter
• Harry Kane threw up during Monday’s session, while Son Heung-min keeled over
• Sportsmail looks at Conte’s methods deployed both on-and-off the football pitch

Tottenham are putting in the hard yards – quite literally – as their pre-season training continues ahead of the start of the new campaign.

Spurs are currently in South Korea preparing for their first friendly this summer against K-League All-Stars on Wednesday.

This is the first pre-season the north London outfit are embarking on under manager Antonio Conte – and for many it is one that they will not forget in a hurry.

Talisman Harry Kane was left throwing up after Monday’s session, while Son Heung-min showed signs of pain, threw himself down onto the grass and rolled on to his back at one point after a gruelling running session.

Conte is as tough as they come as a taskmaster in pre-season. Sportsmail takes a look at his punishing methods as he looks to turn his side into trophy contenders.

Antonio Conte is putting his Tottenham squad through their paces hard during this pre-season

Tottenham players train during their pre-season trip out to South Korea on Tuesday

MONDAY MADNESS

Let’s start with Monday’s session. It was the second one of the day and this was a gruelling two-hour grind in the humidity of Seoul.

As Sportsmail detailed, it started with rondo ball-possession warm-ups, featured a long 10-on-10 game across two thirds of the pitch and concluded with a savage running exercise that no-one had been warned about.

It was the latter though that caught the eye in front of the 6,000 spectators who attended the open training at the Seoul World Cup Stadium.

Harry Kane and Son Heung-min are already feeling the strain of Conte’s gruelling pre-season

The star duo collapsed into a heap on the pitch during a tough running session on Monday

Overseen by fitness coach Gian Piero Ventrone, the Spurs squad had to run 42 lengths of the pitch at a quick pace, much quicker than a jog.

There were very brief pauses after each set of three to four runs – a respite that wasn’t long enough for everyone.

Depending on when they reported back for training, it was either 42 or 30 lengths. For those who had been on international duty and reported back later, like Kane and Son, it was 30.

With temperatures touching 30C, no breeze inside the 60,000-capacity bowl and stifling humidity, it proved too much for Kane, who collapsed onto his knees at the end of one run and vomitted.

Son, the darling of South Korea, drew gasps from the crowd when he collapsed. The pair though dragged themselves back to their feet to complete their course.

The Spurs squad trained for 90 minutes before beginning running lengths of the pitch

Eric Dier whipped up the crowd for motivation as they drove on towards the finish.

Bryan Gil and Davinson Sanchez were among those striding out at the front for much of the running but young striker Troy Parrott still had the energy to break clear on the final length to take the tape to well-earned applause.

‘It depends who you ask,’ said 20-year-old Parrott when asked if Conte’s training was as gruelling as it seemed.

‘I’m quite a good runner naturally, but yeah it’s been tough. It’s been hard work but it’s all preparation.’

A number of players had to run 42 lengths, while those late back had to still complete 30 runs

While those methods may seem daunting to many on these shores, Monday’s training session is akin to standard practice in Conte’s homeland of Italy.

As Sportsmail can detail, Italians in pre-season usually retreat to the hills and train intensely for a week before beginning ball work.

The demands of modern-day pre-season tours abroad don’t allow for that as such now, meaning Conte will have to push his players with more lengthy runs.

Conte is a stickler for detail and will be vocal in how he wants something done until it’s right

Tactically too, Conte can be obsessive over the smallest things as he implements the philosophy he demands from his sides.

At Chelsea, he drummed into them about defensive team shape with one particular drill.

Using a method adapted by legendary Italian coach Arrigo Saachi, who gave him his Italy debut in 1994, Conte would place coloured flags around a pitch which would represent the ball.

He would then point to a flag with his squad then having to move into shape towards the cone as it if was the ball. He would then repeat this for the other flags too.

At the start of his Tottenham reign last November he was once over an hour late to a press conference as he drilled his methods into his players on the training pitch. 

In his first pre-season at Chelsea in Los Angeles, he emphasised this drill to his whole squad – irrespective of whether they were a first-team starter or squad member. So much so that the back-up players would be side-by-side the first-choice players depending on their positions to make sure everyone knew where they had to be.

At Chelsea, he drummed into them team shape with a drill he learned under Arrigo Saachi

HAT-TRICK OF FITNESS COACHES

Upon joining Tottenham last November, Conte was quick to try and overhaul the culture at the club.

Tottenham languished eighth in the Premier League after just 17 games.

As detailed, Conte places huge emphasis on fitness as underlined almost immediately by the transformation in Spurs’ running stats following his arrival, from the lowest in the league to the highest.

Costantino Coratti (left) and Stefano Bruno are two of three fitness coaches Spurs have

This was in part by the fact that the ex-Chelsea and Inter Milan manager brought three fitness coaches with him to Spurs as he looked to bridge the gap on the teams above him in the table. In contrast, his predecessor Nuno Espirito Santo had just one.

In came Costantino Coratti, Gian Piero Ventrone and Stefano Bruno – to supplement the club’s existing sports science staff.

The end result? Spurs became fitter as they finished fourth in the Premier League to secure Champions League football.

Gian Piero Ventrone (left) is the other fitness coach that Conte has at the north London outfit

PROFESSOR MARINE

At the heart of Conte’s incredibly tough fitness drills is Ventrone.

Known as the ‘Professor Marine’, the 62-year-old Napoli-born fitness coach can be an uncompromising figure as Monday’s second session in Seoul proved for Tottenham’s players.

Before signing for Juventus in 1996, legendary France playmaker Zinedine Zidane telephoned compatriot Didier Deschamps to ask about the club.

Ventrone has the nickname ‘Professor Marine’ and can be an uncompromising figure at times

Deschamps, who was a Juve player, spoke glowingly about the team and the league but also warned Zidane about the demanding nature of Ventrone.

‘Deschamps did tell me about the training sessions but I just didn’t believe they could be as bad as all that,’ he later confessed to the Italian media.

‘Often I would be at the point of vomiting by the end, because I was so tired.’

Despite the fatigue, Ventrone’s methods worked as Zidane only went from strength-to-strength in Turin.

Ventrone was all about pushing players beyond their deemed capabilities. One method he used was installing a ‘bell of shame’. Whoever was the first player to stop one of his physical sessions would have to ring the bell.

Zinedine Zidane has praised him before for helping him improve his fitness levels at Juventus

If the ignominy of the ‘bell of shame’ wasn’t enough, Ventrone would also sometimes also play music during drills at their highest intensity, for example the operatic classic ‘Ride of the Valkyries’ by Richard Wagner.

As Football.London report, Ventone’s mottos are said to be statements such as ‘work today to run tomorrow’, ‘die but finish’ and ‘victory belongs to the strong.’

Conte was part of that Juventus team who were made to sweat by Ventrone, now he wants his Spurs men to suffer like he did for the greater good.

Conte knows Ventrone well having been a player under the Italian while also playing for Juve

VIDEO ANALYSIS

It’s not just the body that Conte will have you working, it’s the mind too. Video analysis sessions, which are daily, are extremely detailed with Conte meticulous.

After pouring over footage he would demand clips to prove his players should move one yard to the left or right, for example.

At Chelsea, the Italian had cameras at their Cobham training ground and used the footage in team talks and immediately ahead of games to illustrate his points.

After beating Vitesse Arnhem in the Europa Conference League last November, Conte treated his Spurs stars to a 75-minute video analysis session of the win over the Dutch side, despite the meeting being initially pencilled in for 20 minutes.

Kane and Eric Dier watch video analysis during a Tottenham training session last season

BERRY GOOD DIET DEMANDS

Like any gym-goers know, exercise is one thing but nutrition is key to achieving goals too and this is arguably Conte’s strictest sticking point.

During his first week at Tottenham, the 52-year-old ensured that his squad ate lunch together at midday.

It was reported too by The Athletic that he withdrew ‘heavy food and sandwiches’ from the menu at the training ground canteen and also got rid of ketchup and mayonnaise after feeling some players were overweight.

Conte laid down the law as soon as he got to Spurs – banning certain foods and sauces

There has also been cut backs to the amount of fruit juice given to players and the amount of oil and butter used in cooking. He’s also urged his stars to eat more fruit.

Conte deployed similar methods when he was Chelsea manager, once again banning ketchup from the dining area as well as pizza, fizzy drinks and brown sauce.

Chelsea stars were allowed to add salt and pepper to their dishes but traditional vinegar was replaced by balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

When in charge of Italy (August 2014-July 2016) he was obsessed by the values of goji berries. Packed with antioxidants and powerful medicinal properties, they’re said to slow signs of aging, maintain eye health, and strengthen your liver, kidneys, and lungs.

While at the helm of the Azzurri too, Conte used to have signs up in the canteen telling them what to eat and what to put on their plates.

As manager of Italy, Conte told his players to eat goji berries for their nutritional qualities

Endorsed by Chelsea legend John Terry who wrote on Instagram last November that he ‘was the fittest and in the best shape of my career playing under Antonio’, Conte’s methods have improved many a high-profile footballer – most notably Romelu Lukaku.

Conte signed Lukaku in August 2019 from Manchester United and instantly put him on a specific ‘Bresaola diet’ at Inter Milan after sending him to a nutritionist to improve this aspect of his life.

As part of the Belgian’s diet, fried food, mozzarella and alcohol were firmly off the menu, though Lukaku has had no problem with the latter having always been teetotal.

In their place, a Mediterranean menu of vegetables and protein-rich white meats such as turkey and chicken helped him to shed the pounds.

In 12 days, he lost nearly 10 pounds and soon had one of the lowest body-fate percentages in the team. He duly rewarded him by plundering in the goals with 34 in 51 matches.

Conte had a great impact on Romelu Lukaku at Inter Milan – helping him shed weight quickly

BE WARNED THOUGH…

Not everyone buys into the Italian’s methods. Before his exit at Chelsea, complaints grew within the squad about how tedious it could all be.

Diego Costa, who left the club after falling out with Conte, would be driven crazy by the long tactical sessions on the pitch.

Conte’s tough sessions took their toll in 2017-18 as the Blues juggled European football commitments. Having joined the club the season prior, Chelsea were not in Europe and so it was less taxing on his squad. That year they finished as Premier League champions with Costa as his top goalscorer in all competitions (22 goals). Twelve months later they finished fifth, although they did win the FA Cup.

Only time will tell how Conte’s demands plus Spurs’ fixture list – remember they were knocked out of the Europa Conference League at the group stages, albeit contentiously – will pan out for his squad.

One thing for certain though, none of the Tottenham players were expecting that running session on Monday. It was the third session in 24 hours and was punishing. They were hobbling around in the team hotel on Monday night.

Recovery will be key as they now know what to expect in the very near future once again.

At Chelsea, Diego Costa grew tired of Conte’s long tactical sessions on the training pitch

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