Antonio Conte left Tottenham with his reputation well and truly damaged, and the start of this season hasn’t helped to repair the damage that was done.

In fact, as Ange Postecoglou’s amazing tenure in north London continues, Conte’s reputation at Spurs is deteriorating rapidly, in contrast to Jose Mourinho at Manchester United, whose reputation has been improved with the benefit of hindsight.

While playing a different brand of football than Conte, Postecoglou is having amazing success at Tottenham. He has also assisted in the transformation of several players who were firmly out of favor under Conte.

No player embodies it more than Yves Bissouma, and in an interview with Andy Townsend for the Premier League All Access Podcast, he said that Conte’s choice to bench Bissouma last season is now becoming even more odd given how much the player has grown and improved.

Conte’s Bissouma stance looks baffling

On the £25 million Mali international, Townsend gave his assessment.

“We can see Madison, as well as other people. No one of us could figure out why Conte wouldn’t play Yves Bissouma, and now it’s even more puzzling given how he’s now performing. You wouldn’t want to take on Ange Postecoglou because of his subtle authority, according to Townsend.

Foolish

Antonio Conte probably has a lot of regrets if he has been watching Spurs games this season.

This year, Tottenham have demonstrated that playing aggressive football is the way to go forward, and Bissouma has displayed his considerable skill.

Sadly, Conte wanted to play a defensive style with players who were significantly less gifted than Bissouma, and in the end, that cost both Conte and Tottenham their chance to qualify for Europe.