Antonio Conte has claimed he is happy that Tottenham fell to a defeat to AS Roma as it means that the players will not be lethargic heading into their opening match of the season against Southampton.
Spurs were unbeaten in their three pre-season friendlies this summer ahead of their clash against Roma in Israel, having scored a total of nine goals in their clashes against Team K League, Sevilla and Rangers.
However, they looked lacklustre going forward against the Serie A side, who defended with men behind the ball after Roger Ibanez’s opener just before the half-hour mark.
Although Spurs were arguably unlucky to have some referring decisions go against them, the Lilywhites did not muster too many clear-cut goal-scoring opportunities against Jose Mourinho’s men.
Conte insisted that the defeat against Giallorossi is good for Tottenham as it will keep the players on their toes ahead of the season opener on Saturday.
The Italian told Football.London about the 1-0 loss: “I think honestly that I’m happy this [defeat] happened because to start the season in this way we keep calm and then we are focused. We are not going to lose our concentration and our focus.
“We know that we can do better than last season but in England, it’s very difficult and if we are not concentrated 100% or you think that you are better and you don’t show this on the pitch you risk sliding quickly.”
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We saw an example of exactly what Conte is talking about under Juande Ramos in 2008.
Our brilliant run in pre-season culminated in us thrashing Roma 5-0 in our final friendly of the summer but we then went on to get just two points from eight matches in the Premier League.
So, losing a game or two in pre-season is certainly not a bad thing and will ensure that the players are wary of not repeating the same mistakes when the campaign gets underway.
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