#PLStories- Antonio Conte on Joe Rodon, Spurs’ long path and why the fans must be patient #THFC
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There seems to be a lack of confidence among the players, can you fix that by yourself?
The confidence and pressure is part of our job. The pressure for me, the pressure for the players. I think this type of situation is part of our job. If you remember, when I spoke about improving many aspects it wasn’t only today after two defeats in a row at home I tell you a different situation. I continue to tell the same things. There is a long road, a long path in front of us. Long. It’s important for us not to be scared to face this path. For sure there are many aspects to improve. It’s difficult today to speak about the game because for me in my opinion the game was good, the performance was also good. We created many chances against a team with the second best defence after Man City. Despite this we created many chances to score, we had the possession. But we are talking about a 2-0 defeat against Wolverhampton and for sure we have to improve and to live with a lack of confidence. Because it can happen, it can happen. We have to be good to live with the pressure. Otherwise it will be difficult. But I repeat these players are very good. The commitment is very high every day in the training sessions, and also in the game because I can’t speak about a bad commitment. They pushed until the end and I’m proud of this. But there are many aspects if you want to be competitive to fight for important positions you have to consider. We have a long path in front of us to follow.
Has there been any temptation from you in recent games to use Joe Rodon at all given the struggles in defence and that you said he was Eric Dier’s back-up?
Joe we are talking about a really good guy. We are talking about a person whose commitment is very high every day. But in this moment maybe I make mistakes to pick different players maybe.Maybe. My evaluation is to try to put on the pitch the best players at the moment. If I didn’t do this then maybe I did different considerations.
Have you considered switching to four at the back with this team?
I think that we conceded two goals. We conceded two goals and very difficult to comment. Then after 30 mins I decided to change tactically and go man-to-man and I think we did well. But when you concede a goal you also have to understand the reason. If there is a tactical reason, if there are different reasons and at the moment we are struggling a bit with the confidence and the pressure. For me, I repeat, it is very difficult to speak about the pressure because the pressure is part of our job and I am used to living with it very well. But I know that there are different situations and we have to try and manage them much better. We have to improve in mental aspects. When I speak about improvement, it’s not only on the pitch but totally. I think we can improve.
Are you worried about the players not having the winning mentality?
The problem is that you cannot buy the winning mentality. You transfer it day by day and it is not sure that day by day, because there are players that are more open and they understand the process quickly, other players need more time to understand this.. Winning mentality in my opinion means when you play I am ready to kill you and to live. This is the difference in every duel, every second ball, every set-piece. When you show better desire than your opponent, when you understand the defeats have to hurt you a lot, not a little. This is not simple. When I say that we are working a lot to try and improve in many aspects, you know after when we lost against Mura then I said we had to work a lot and maybe we had to try and improve because there are a lot of situations to improve. In my opinion, compare the past and compare the season when this team reached the final of the Champions League, a lot of things have changed. Now in this moment we have to be realistic and we have to be together. Also with our fans. Our fans have to understand that maybe you need to have patience to wait to rebuild again the situation they were used to in the past. Now the situation has changed but not only with me, in three months and a half. It was the same with the other coaches in the past. If we have patience and we want to work. This is the situation. We are working very hard with the players, with the players there is a great commitment but it is not enough. It is not enough. It is not enough. I repeat that if we want to be competitive, we have to wait and build. Step by step, step by step. It is important to be realistic and speak very clearly. I like to do this and this is not the first time I am telling you the same things. This is not the first time.
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