antonio conte happy
You said Steven Bergwijn was an attacker you could count on and he’s come up trumps for you there, what did you make of that dramatic finish?
I think it was an amazing game. Honestly, we didn’t deserve to lose the game and also we didn’t deserve to draw because we created many chances and in many circumstances we were unlucky. To arrive in added time losing 2-1 was honestly a great, great disappointment. At the end my players showed great resilience, great desire. Don’t give up. This must be our philosophy, don’t give up and fight until the end. They showed me great desire. When we had equalised, we got the ball and we wanted to restart the game and to try to win. I think it was good for me to see this type of attitude from my players. Then I know very well that we have a long path to do, there is a lot of space for improvement but at the same time it was good to get three points against an important team like Leicester. Don’t forget Leicester won the FA Cup last season, the Community Shield this season and they finished in front of us in the table last season. They have a great manager who is doing a fantastic job here. To get three points against them here is very important for us.
Does that performance from Steven Bergwijn make you more determined to keep him?
In the past when someone asks me about Steven Bergwijn I was very clear. I said that for me he is an important player because he has characteristics that in our squad we don’t have many creative players. He is very good in one vs one, good to beat the man. He can play striker, he can play number 10 and for us, for me, he is an important player and we have to try to improve, to become stronger, not to lose a player and become less strong. Steven is a player that if he’s in good physical condition and he has good fitness he can start the games or he can come in and change the game. For me I think he’s an important player and you know very well the player has to be happy and I think the player is happy to stay with us and play for Tottenham.
How important can that type of win be for the season ahead?
At the end for us it’s very important to get three points, especially against a strong team like Leicester. For us it’s very important to improve our confidence, to improve our belief, to win also in this way and to show that you have great resilience. My players didn’t want today to accept the defeat. For me it was important to see this on the pitch.
How high do you think this Tottenham team can go this season?
Honestly, I think I have already spoken about my vision. In this moment I think we are in a good position in the table but we know it’ll be very difficult to keep this position and try to fight for something important. We have to try to continue to work, to improve and if there is the possibility in this transfer market to improve also numerically the number of this squad it will be very important because we need to try to. We know very well we have to fight against every team in England. In England the level is very high. It was good to have this run of nine games and for this reason now we’re seeing Tottenham in this position in the table. On the one hand it’s good but on the other hand we have to be very honest and understand we’re doing well but it will be very difficult to keep this position. We want to continue to work very hard, continue to try to fight and give our best. This must be our target, that at the end of the season we are sure we gave everything and the position we reached in the table means we deserved this position.
