antonio conte happy
Antonio Conte likes a good head massage to take away the stresses of his manic life as a Premier League manager but don’t expect him to calm down any time soon. The 52-year-old Tottenham boss has always been a bundle of energy on the touchline during matches and in Wednesday night’s defeat to Southampton he was going through every emotion as his side threw away the lead twice to lost the encounter 3-2. It was put to him that at one point he even kicked a collection of water bottles.
Antonio Conte said: “Maybe. It wouldn’t be the first time. It has happened many times in the past. I think our job brings not just myself but all the coaches, a lot of stress. To stay at this level you have to manage with stress every day. I think this is normal for us and if you don’t want to stress then I think this job is not good for you. You have to stay in your house and stay in bed and stay calm eating good tea with biscuits. It’s not my job this. I like to have adrenaline. I find the competition gives me great emotion. People have to be worried if I stay calm, because if I stay calm it means maybe I accept the situation. It means you accept the situation and you don’t want to fight. Rassegnato is the Italian word (resigned to an unpleasant fate) – you don’t want to fight and change the situation. Our job doesn’t help us, not Tottenham. United, City, Wolverhampton whoever. This job is not helpful for stress, but you live the game to have this type of emotion and I live for this. It is great to stay inside this atmosphere. You are happier when you win, less happy when you draw or lose but it is part of the game. To live this emotion is great for the coach, for players, coaches and people who love football.”
So how does the manic Italian calm down when he finally gets a moment or two away from the stresses of the game?
Antonio Conte admitted: “I like to have a massage, a relaxing massage. I like this, especially in my head because the head is the part that I need – and my shoulders – to be more relaxed. I accumulate the stress especially in my neck and my shoulders and if I have time, yeah I enjoy a good massage.”
Those close to Conte are not worrying any time soon about watching him leap around the touchline and wearing his heart on his sleeve.
Antonio Conte said: “My family knows me very well. They are used to seeing me in this way. It would be strange to see me calm. I like to play with my players to try to help them. Also during the game. I’d like sometimes to just sit and stay in silence and watch the game, to enjoy the game without participating, but I hope in the future, when I become older and maybe I am not so good at standing up for the whole game!”
Another facet of football life connected with Conte is his beliefs about certain food types and having the right nutrition. He has made it clear at various clubs he has managed, as well as during his stint as the Italian national manager, just what he believes the players should and should not be eating. However, the Spurs head coach admitted that he’s now at a stage in life where he can afford to have a few things he enjoys.
Antonio Conte said: “First I like Nutella. Every morning my breakfast is bread with Nutella and a coffee, but for me I don’t play football any more. I’m a coach so I can eat Nutella every day now, along with cakes and pasta and I think the food is important for a player. If you eat well and recover well you have more energy for the game, but pasta is good to eat. It’s good to eat carbohydrates and protein. Also fats in the right amounts are good. At Tottenham we have two good guys that pay great attention to the food of the players. I haven’t changed the situation here because I have found a good organisation here, but I repeat a player has to be professional in many aspects. For sure good food, good health is important. For injuries, to have good energy and to recover well, but in Tottenham I haven’t changed anything.”
Conte has titles galore to his name and at every club he has had to improve them before he can win anything. The challenge at Spurs though is a greater one than many in his past, without any recent trophies to the north London outfit’s name and declining finishes in the Premier League.
Antonio Conte said: “For sure. It’s a big challenge for me. I know how it is. At Chelsea they were tenth but the previous season they won the league. That means you have a good basis to win again quickly. At Juventus, well – they are one of the best teams in the league and last decade they have won nine times. Also with Inter [they were in good shape]. At the moment with Tottenham we are starting in a position more down. For this reason we need more time. You have to build a lot of things. You have to create a good foundation. That’s the difference. You need time and patience. It would be stupid for me to make any proclamations in such a short period. We already know now that we have to work. Compared to the past when I was at Chelsea, Tottenham is a different team. We have to try to build this team up again to being like Tottenham were at that moment. I remember very well, back than, Tottenham were really, really strong. They had an important squad with a mix of experience, a mix of strong young players and now we are starting another way, another path. So we need to have patience, especially our fans, to understand this situation because this is their reality.”
Conte admitted that the level of work required surprised him when he arrived at the club.
Antonio Conte said: “I was surprised. When you arrive at a new club, a new situation, you don’t know what you will find there. For sure, I am used to work in a specific way. I don’t care about what happened in the past because I don’t want to compare myself with people. I know that I have found a lot of work to do but for my idea of football, for my ambition I can tell you only this: for my ambition I have found a situation that needs a lot of work to do. I can tell you only this because I don’t want to compare my work with the work in the past of other people. For my ambition and my level I have found a situation with a lot of work to do.”
