antonio conte happy
How are you doing after your absence?
For sure, it was really difficult to stay far from the team. Because you have a sense of responsibility that you want to stay every moment with your players, to breathe the environment in every situation. But this problem happened and now I’m feeling much better than before. I’m not still 100 per cent but I think I’m recovering well, it’s very important for me to stay with the team, work with them and try to stay together in a difficult moment for us. Because in the last period we were not so lucky, because three surgeries – me and two surgery for the players. In the last seven days we had four serious injuries. For this season I think to stay together is very important and try in this type of situation to create the right spirit, to help each other much more than before to work together and overcome this difficult period.
The problem must have been extremely painful to keep you away?
As I said before, it was really painful to stay far away. To live the situation. In a way, this was the first time for me to stay far from the team. It happened in the past that I was banned and I had to watch the game (in the stands) but to stay so far was the first time and really painful.
With Bentancur out, Hojbjerg suspended and Bissouma out, could you play Eric Dier in midfield?
For sure we did not have the time to take into consideration also this option. Rodrigo had an injury two days ago and for this reason to take also another option, to think of another option… the time was so short to prepare this game that I did not think of another solution. We have the solution in our house, with the two young players, Skippy and Pape Sarr. You know we are talking about two young players, their first game in Champions League, they are really young – 20 and 22-years-old. Especially for this reason we have to be good to help them to overcome the emotion, and then we trust them. In the future we will see because you said the truth. To stay for a long period with only three midfielders, to play Premier League and Champions League and also FA Cup will be really difficult. At the same time we have to not have another injury. Otherwise we are in trouble. But we want to use this period to become stronger, to face this difficulty in the right way. We know tomorrow for sure there will be moments when we have to suffer, but we have to suffer together and overcome this difficulty together.
Why are your team so inconsistent?
Unfortunately this is the truth, it’s like you say. Last year we had consistency in the last 14 games, we won 10 out of 14 and then to get in the Champions League we did something that was unexpected, it was incredible considering the situation we had. Considering the number of players, we just had 13 available last year. This year we resumed in the same way and then injuries started, especially in attack, with Lucas Moura, Kulusevski, so the situation got complicated. It was like a rollercoaster. One time you were up and then all of a sudden you were down. If you want to be competitive, if you are aiming for something important you need stability.
You need stability, you need consistency, you can’t have these ups and downs. I am trying to work on this and focusing on not having ups and downs. England is not like Italy, the Premier League is not like Serie A, we have different cultures in these two leagues. In England it is much more difficult to be focused and stay focused for every game. In Italy it is easier.
I am trying to work on this, I want my team to be more focused. When you have ups and down, which is what is happening to us, then obviously it is a bit thing. We need to look for more stability. Sometimes luck abandons you. This year many times we needed to be happy with what we had. This last period it is happening again but we need to react and be stronger.
How is your relationship with Milan and Pioli?
I have sent messages often. I have always said congrats to many coaches, many managers who won against me in the same competition, because that is a very good way to show they are the best. Stefano last year was the best, he won the Italian Championship and before doing that he had such a long career. The path was not easy, he really deserved that victory even before last year. What he did in 2022 was really impressive, it was really amazing, no one was expecting that. But he managed to reach the right empathy, the right concentration, the right focus. He achieved so many things at the same time. He deserved that. We met each other when Italy played against England here at the San Siro. I told him again that he did a wonderful job. AC Milan last year with Stefano Pioli did something great.
What is this team lacking?
I think we will get this answer tomorrow, it will be much easier finding the right answer tomorrow. Trying to forecast the future today is impossible. I think we are lacking that stability, it is always crucial. If you want to win or achieve some targets and have a good position in the Champions League or in England in the Premier League you have to be stable. And this stability is lacking this year. I always talk about it with my players. It is very difficult to keep concentration, it is very difficult to stay focused all of the time. I made a comparison before English football and Italian football. It is not an easy task being so focused. We are working on that, playing under pressure all of the time is good for some players and bad for others. Sometimes players feel motivated other times feel so much under pressure that they can’t perform. Maybe for a period they have a good performance and then they collapse all of a sudden if they feel too much pressure. We are working on this, we want to make our players more resilient but there are also external factors like injuries for very important players for us, and those injuries influence the team, influence the growing evolution of the Championship. You can be prepared for everything, you can be a tactical man, good strategies, good line-ups, you can have high quality players but then if those high quality players get injured then you need to change things. Every manager wishes to have the best players available.
Are Spurs favourites?
I don’t think there is a team with more chances than the other. It is such a level, the teams have the same chances of winning and losing. We need to be lucky enough to get there with the right physical condition and top quality players. In those cases you are favourite and have more chances. In the national championship it is easier because you play 40 games and if you have bad game you can recover. On the other hand in the Champions League the competition is shorter you have direct games that you need to win. You didn’t have time to recover, you need to be lucky enough to get there in the right physical condition and with the right players available otherwise everything gets complicated. It is the same for everybody, I am not making reference to AC Milan or Tottenham, I am talking about every team. That is why the Champions League is so difficult.
You spoke about the difference in focus in England and Italy but you have so many different nationalities in your team, why is there that difference?
I think sometimes also in my previous experience with Chelsea, I think that the pressure is different between Italy and England. In Italy you speak about football from Monday and you finish on Sunday. You speak only football and then you have a lot of TV that speaks football and putting a lot of pressure. You are born in this way and you grow in this way, with this pressure, and you are used to living with this type of situation.
In England I think that there is an atmosphere that brings to enjoy football without a lot of pressure, because football is a sport and in Italy sometimes football is not only a sport, it is a war between the teams and the fans. I think for this reason is the main difference about the pressure.
