It was mid-October when Antonio Conte first started laughing at the notion of Tottenham as potential champions.
His team had just lost at Manchester United, their second Premier League defeat of the season, and they were third, four points from leaders Arsenal.
‘Sometimes I hear we are title contenders,’ he said, chuckling and shaking his head for effect. ‘In only 11 months you cannot pass from ninth to become title contenders, especially when you were 20 points less.’
Antonio Conte’s future at the club looks uncertain following his latest comments to the media
Conte’s side suffered their fifth defeat of the season in a 2-0 loss to Aston Villa on New Year’s Day
In fact, Tottenham were 10th for Conte’s first Premier League game in charge, in November 2021, and finished the season in fourth, trailing champions Manchester City by 22 points.
They had scraped a point at Chelsea, lost at Arsenal and at Sporting Lisbon before losing 2-0 at Old Trafford, after which the Italian concluded: ‘When the level is high, we are going to struggle.’
Eleven weeks on — more than half of this time without Premier League football — and his words appear to have been prescient.
Tottenham’s form has deteriorated alarmingly. The United defeat was the first in the 10-game sequence in which they have conceded the first goal. They have lost five and won three, each with a scrambled late winner.
Seeing clubs like Liverpool make signings reinforces Conte’s belief his club may never have the firepower to win the title
This is the backdrop for Conte’s comments this week. On Sunday, after losing 2-0 at home to Aston Villa and hearing his team booed off, he said people were ‘crazy’ to ever consider them title challengers. He spoke fighting with a ‘little gun’ against a ‘bazooka’. He warned against creating ‘dreams’ and ‘illusions’, and that it was time to be ‘realistic’.
Spurs have invested tens of millions on players such as Rodrigo Bentancur (£16.7million), Dejan Kulusevski (£25.5m), Richarlison (£51m) and Yves Bissouma (£25m), in the last 12 months, but, when Conte sees Liverpool sign Cody Gakpo and Chelsea line up Christopher Nkunku, it reinforces his belief that his club may never have the firepower to win the title.
True, he is often like this around the transfer market, and has made it clear that any signings will be within the club strategy of buying young players and trying to improve them rather than spending big.
Although, when he allied this to his own future, it gave him the look of a man lengthening his stride towards the exit. ‘If I want to stay, then I have to accept this,’ said Conte. ‘Otherwise, if I do not want to accept this, then I have to go.’
His contract expires at the end of the season. There were talks during the World Cup break about extending and improving it, which did not reach an agreement. Spurs hold the option of a 12-month extension but will not trigger it if he wants to move on.
Conte knows what’s needed to reach the top but Daniel Levy’s methods have always been clear
‘I signed a contract with this club and I have to accept this project,’ Conte said ahead of Wednesday’s trip to Crystal Palace. ‘During this process a thousand things can happen. The club can sack the manager or there are different visions, different situations.’
He promised he was happy and committed, while stressing this work concerned building foundations rather than challenging for the big titles. He is a winner and it will pain him to dismiss his chances. He knows what is required to reach the top and trusts his ways and is not about to change. Nor is Daniel Levy, whose methods have always been equally clear.
They always made most unlikely bedfellows but the pair appear to be moving into the final phase of their compatibility test.
Source: dailymail
