Antonio Conte has appeared to suggest that Tottenham Hotspur does not yet have the squad to compete for major honours, admitting that winning trophies at this moment in time is more a hope than an expectation for the club.
Conte has an opportunity to reach his first cup final as Spurs boss over the next week, with Tottenham set to take on Chelsea in a two-legged Carabao Cup semifinal.
The first leg will see the Italian return to Stamford Bridge for the first time since he left Chelsea in 2018.
Thomas Tuchel is expected to rest some of his first-team players for Wednesday’s clash due to several of his stars having knocks and suffering from fatigue.
With Manchester City, who have had a monopoly on the competition over recent years, being knocked out, it seems like a golden opportunity for Spurs to end their thirteen-year trophy drought.
However, Conte believes that Chelsea are in a much better position to compete for silverware than his side at the moment.
When asked if it is important for Tottenham to win a trophy, the Italian told Football.London: “Yeah I think that for everyone it’s always very important to win trophies – for the club, for the players, for the managers.
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“On one hand, I have to tell you this. On the other, I think you have to build to win trophies. You can win trophies by speaking and saying you want to win. But then you have to be good and build something ready to win.
“I think at this moment, Chelsea is more ready than us to win. They won last season the Champions League. I think we have a lot of space for improvement, to be a team with aspiration to win. Then for sure, we’ll do everything to reach the final of this trophy.
“But I repeat: to use this verb or word ‘to win’ is more simple than winning because to win you have to build something important, be solid, have an important squad. Then you’re ready to win. Otherwise, you have to hope. To hope in your work you’re doing and hope to do something outstanding.”
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Conte is clearly trying to take pressure off the Spurs squad and himself by suggesting that winning a trophy this season would be nothing but a bonus.
However, given his mentality, the Italian probably sees the Carabao Cup as a golden opportunity to get some silverware under his belt.
Conte’s message inside the dressing room will likely be different and I expect him to name his strongest eleven for tomorrow’s clash.
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