Antonio Conte took the hot seat for his first Tottenham press conference this afternoon ahead of the match against Everton in the Premier League this weekend.
Although he joined the club before Tottenham’s pre-match press conference before Vitesse Arnhem, Managing Director of Football Fabio Paratici took that one due to a delay with Conte’s work visa.
However, following the eventful 3-2 victory over Vitesse in the Europa Conference League, Conte sat down for his first taste of media duties at Hotspur Way today.
The new Spurs head coach spoke about his contract, Harry Kane, Everton in his first Premier League match, his targets for Tottenham, and his first few days at the club.
On his long-term future, Conte claimed he hoped to find a connection with Tottenham for a long time to come, while revealing that his aim is to maintain the commitment, attitude and behaviour he has seen in his opening days in N17.
Asked about the 18-month contract, Conte said (Football London): “The contract is OK for me, the hope is I find the right connection for this club for a long time for sure.
“I think my contract is not a problem. 18 months and we decided. I understood also what this club did for me. We can work together for a long time.”
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On Harry Kane, he added: “We’re talking an important player, not only for Tottenham but also for the national team. Harry is a really good player and for sure we have to work with him and all the players to improve this situation.
“I have seen this past few days that we need to work a lot to improve many aspects for every single player and not only one, two, three.”
Asked about Everton this weekend, Conte said: “I remember that I lost my last game against Benitez. For sure, our expectation to have a tough game as Everton tough team. Goodison is not easy to play.
At the same time we want to show and improve results, especially for our table [position]. It won’t be easy.”
On his first few days at Tottenham, he said: “But after 2 or 3 days it’s a short time to answer this question. I hope this commitment, attitude and behaviour continues for the rest of the season.”
Asked about his targets, Conte spoke: “Now to tell that we have a specific target is not simple. I think the club is the same. Paratici knows very well this is the situation.
“I think at the moment it’s not good or not fair to say we want to do this or reach this. At the moment we’ve only to be strong, to start to work together and think that we need to improve.”
Spurs Web Opinion:
It sounds as though his plans are very clear. No player is going to get a free pass. Everyone has to work hard and keep working hard if they want to earn chances under Conte. That is the way it has to be in the Premier League, else the squad turns stale.
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