Antonio Conte has admitted that he was disappointed to hear Spurs fans booing the team at half-time against Liverpool.
Tottenham did not have things their own way in the first half but the 2-0 scoreline at the interval was perhaps still not a fair reflection of the game as the home side did look threatening.
The half-time whistle was met with a chorus of boos from some Spurs fans but the Lilywhites responded brilliantly in the second period and put Jurgen Klopp’s men under immense pressure.
However, despite pulling one back in the 70th minute through Harry Kane, Spurs could not repeat their heroics at the Vitality Stadium last week as Liverpool managed to hold on till the end.
Conte made it clear that fans have a right to express themselves, given that they pay to watch the side but he admitted that he was disappointed at the reaction. The Spurs boss explained that the team are a work in progress for the moment and need the fans’ support behind them.
When asked what he made of the boos ringing around the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at half-time Conte told Football.London: “First of all, I think that we have to show in every moment great respect for our fans because they are our fans, they pay the ticket.
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“At the same time, if you ask me if I was a bit disappointed? Yes, because it is important in every moment, to be honest.
“I think I continue to repeat always the same situation from the start of the season and I say we have just started a process. I think after one year we made a lot of improvement. If someone thinks that we are already ready to win, I have to be honest with you and tell you it will be really, really, difficult.
“Because when you start and Liverpool is a good example, when you start a process, you need time and patience. If we understand this, time and patience, everybody is okay. Otherwise, we can lose the passion and we can lose the enthusiasm.
“Then I repeat I don’t see another way for the way we are doing. For this reason I want to be really honest. I can’t promise in this moment to win trophies for our fans because in this moment we are far to do it.
“Then if it happen in domestic league, then it would be a super plus because I repeat I continue to ask for time and patience because I have the experience to tell that we are far from other teams that are used to winning and have squads strong to win. If we understand together this, it would be good.
“Otherwise I repeat everybody wants to win, I am the first that wants to win but we need time and patience. If everybody knows we have time and patience, it is okay. Otherwise, I think we continue this season and we will see at the end what happened.”
Spurs Web Opinion
The only way it would be justifiable to boo your own team is if the players were not putting in 100 per cent effort, which was clearly not the case on Sunday. Fans who insist they will continue to boo because they pay high prices for tickets are simply not supporters of the team as jeering only negatively impacts the player’s confidence.
It is the job of supporters to get behind the team and push them on to try and get a result. Fans who throw a tantrum and boo when the result is not in the team’s favour at half-time would be better off not going to their game and doing something else for their weekend’s entertainment.
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