‘I don’t like to lie’ – Conte reveals why he changed his tune on Spurs top-four pursuit
Antonio Conte has insisted he did not think finishing in the top four was a realistic target for Spurs when he initially arrived but has now seen enough improvement in the team to convince him that Champions League qualification is within reach. Tottenham were in a complete mess when Conte replaced Nuno Espirito Santo at […]
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Antonio Conte has insisted he did not think finishing in the top four was a realistic target for Spurs when he initially arrived but has now seen enough improvement in the team to convince him that Champions League qualification is within reach.
Tottenham were in a complete mess when Conte replaced Nuno Espirito Santo at the helm in November. Even though it has been far from plain sailing for the Italian during his five months at the helm, performances have been improving steadily.
Even in mid-February, the Spurs boss had maintained that his side only had a 1 per cent chance of qualifying for the Champions League (Football 365).
However, with the Lilywhites now sitting just three points behind their North London rivals Arsenal in fourth, the Italian has now started to publicly voice his ambitions of finishing fourth.
Conte has now explained that his opinion has changed owing to the improvement he has seen in the players since he arrived.
The 52-year-old told Football.London: “Before, it was a bit difficult to talk about the targets. Don’t forget I arrived in November and the situation wasn’t so good.
“We worked a lot, but you know very well you can work a lot and you have to give a bit of time to start to see your work on the team.
“Before, for me, it was very difficult to put a target on the team and where to finish in the top four. I had to feel this possibility. I know before I didn’t feel this. For this reason, it was a bit difficult to speak about targets, that we can win this, this and this.
“I don’t like to promise situations that I don’t believe. You see my face and understand if I’m telling the truth or lie. I don’t like to lie, I prefer to stay in silence, but now I’m seeing a great improvement of my team.
“For this reason, to put a target of fourth place is good. Also for the future, because we have to start to live with the pressure to reach a target, to have ambition.
“I think it’s good to now go in this way because I feel the team can have one, two, ten possibility to reach this target, but we have this possibility. For this reason, we have to push our maximum to try to take this target.
“You know very well it will be very difficult, but, honestly, now I feel this sensation that we can reach this target and for this reason, I put this positive pressure on the team.
“It’s good for the present but also for the future. If you want to be competitive and win trophies, you have to live with the pressure.
“The pressure is to be positive, you have to use this pressure to push you at the maximum level but not let the pressure make your legs heavy.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Given the fixture list, we have until the end of the season in comparison to Arsenal and Man Utd, one could argue that we are the favourites for fourth place. Given the form of Kane, Son and Kulusevski, we also have a lot more goals in our team compared to the other two.
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The post ‘I don’t like to lie’ – Conte reveals why he changed his tune on Spurs top-four pursuit appeared first on Spurs Web - Tottenham Hotspur Football News.