Conte admits the Spurs he found is not the one he expected

Antonio Conte has admitted that the Tottenham Hotspur he has found is not the one he expected and suggested that the club has not experienced someone like him before.
Conte has showcased a rollercoaster of emotions this week with Spurs beating Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium in impressive fashion only to lose at Burnley in the Premier League four days later.
After that game at Turf Moor, the Italian floated the idea that he would leave Tottenham if that was the best solution to fix the current situation of four defeats in five games.
He played that down somewhat on Friday ahead of Tottenham’s match at Leeds United.
When asked whether he could guarantee he would be at the north London club at the end of the season he did not do so, but said he was certainly happy at the moment, particularly in his relationship with Spurs chairman Daniel Levy.
“I think that in this moment I guarantee the best commitment that I can give to this club. I have another year of contract with this club but you know very well that football is very strange,” he said.
“You can have three, four years of contract and the club can sack you. Sometimes someone decides to go away. Football is very strange. I think now that the most important thing is that I am enjoying my time with this club.
“I think that we are working very well. I think that we are starting to build something important for the club. This is the most important thing. I always say, when I arrive in one place and I find a place in a way, when I have to go away from this club, I have to leave this club much better than I found it. I have done this with every club I have worked at.
“For sure, it will be the same for this club. If you ask me in four months, one year, two years, three years. Now it is very difficult to answer this question, but for sure, I am working to improve the club in every aspect.
“I would like to take satisfaction with this club, but you know that football changes quickly, but I think in this moment, I repeat, I am totally committed to Tottenham and I have a good relationship with the club, especially with Daniel.
“He knows very well what are my thoughts and for this, this is the most important thing for me. He knows very well what are my thoughts.
“Also because he wanted me here and for this reason, I say always thanks for this opportunity that he gave me, but he knows very well what are my thoughts for the present and what is my vision, everything, everything. I think this is the best way to have a direct way with the owner. It is ok.”
football.london has previously reported that Conte has delivered plenty of home truths to Levy since arriving in November, when it comes to the level of the club and his squad.
When asked whether he was worried if his strong comments on Wednesday night might have a destabilising effect on Spurs, he made it clear that nobody should be scared of the truth.
“Why? Because I tell the truth? If you tell the truth, you destabilise? In my opinion and in my education – my family said to me – with the truth, you grow, with a lie you destabilise people,” he said.
“I think the opposite [to your question]. With the truth, you grow and not destabilise the club or the players. It means that. If I destabilise someone, not good man, not good club. I want a strong club, strong men, strong players. The truth is the only way that I know to grow.”
Conte continued in his candid vein and admitted that the Tottenham Hotspur he has found is a different one to the image he had pictured in his head before he joined.
“I took this job with great enthusiasm, with great desire and great will to come back in England to work for an important club in England and also to have in my heart and my mind the desire to bring also this club to be competitive to win something,” he said.
“For sure this situation pushed me a lot to come here to try to change the past. It was a great push for me.
“Then for sure when you arrive in one place you understand the difficulty you can find and the situation you can find at that moment.
“Maybe in my heart, mind and head I thought to find a situation not better but more ready to fight and to win, and instead now I found a situation where we have to work, to work a lot, much more than was my expectation to do.
“I am not scared about the work as I repeat in my life only through work have I reached important level in my career. When I arrived here I do not ask anything, but at the same time I know that if I arrive here and they know that you are taking an important coach, not a medium coach.”
Conte is a man used to winning titles, lifting trophies with Inter Milan, Chelsea, and Juventus as a player and manager.
His Tottenham project is a very different one to those in his past and he was coy when it came to explaining his vision for the club’s future.
“The club knows very well what is my vision. I think that this is the most important thing,” he said. “I don’t think it is right to go to the media to speak about my vision and to say what I think or what I want.
“I think the best way is to go straight to the club and tell them your vision. Then sometimes you find that the club matches your vision and it is ok, but sometimes it can happen that maybe the vision could be also different but for many reasons. When this happens, it means that the way goes in a different way no?”
When pressed on whether club shared his vision, he admitted that Spurs and he were beginning to understand each other and suggested that the north London outfit might not have experienced someone like him before.
“I have just arrived, only for four months, and I think that we are learning to know each other,” he said.
“I think that I am loving this club because this is a modern club with a fantastic stadium and to come and work here, I enjoy to do this honestly. I enjoy it a lot to do this every day.
“Again I have my vision, my mission, and for sure, day by day, step by step, also the club is understanding which is my vision, but also I am a person who hates to lose and maybe in this club, not many are used to having this type of person.
“But I am this type of person. I know it is not simple, but I think that we are going day by day to know each other and to help that in this way that we are knowing each other and we can match and find the best solution and go straight and to build something important.
“I hope this is the last time to speak about me and the club because, I repeat, me and the club we stay in the same boat. I want to help the club for sure.
“Until the last day I stay here, I will help the club to improve, in every aspect. Our chairman knows this very well and for this reason, he has shown me great appreciation for me.”
(Football London)
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