‘His mentality and passion’ – Moura admits Conte has already made his mark on Spurs players

Lucas Moura has said that the Tottenham players are excited to work under Antonio Conte and that the Italian has already made his mark on the squad in the few days since his appointment.

Conte’s first game in charge of Spurs is one that he will not easily forget as it proved to be a topsy-turvy encounter, with a ten-men Tottenham side winning 3-2 against Vitesse, who finished the game with just nine players.

Tottenham seemed as though they would ease past the Eredivisie side as they were 3-0 up within 30 minutes but Moura admitted that the home side made it difficult for themselves by conceding two cheap goals.

The Brazilian told UEFA.com: “It was a very tough game. We started very well with three goals and very high intensity. But after we conceded two goals from our mistakes and put ourselves in trouble and the game became very difficult.”

Moura was all praise for Conte, insisting that the 52-year-old had already put his stamp on the side ahead of Thursday’s Europa Conference League encounter.

He said about the new appointment: “Antonio Conte is a winner and one of the greatest managers of the last few years. We are all excited to work with him and we feel already his mentality and passion.

“In the two training sessions, he tried to show us how he likes us to play and his mentality.

“It’s always difficult with a new philosophy in a few days and only two training sessions with Antonio [Conte]. But I think we showed new things and did very well.”

The 29-year-old admitted that he was pleased with the way the side fought in the second half and stated that the win was well deserved.

He added: “They (Vitesse) have quality and if you give them space to play then it becomes difficult. But we fought well and were solid, not giving them any space.

“It was even more difficult after the red card. But we need to know how to suffer and fight together and I think we did well. There are a lot of things to improve but we deserved this victory.”

Spurs Web Opinion

Although we were not playing Premier League standard opposition, it was evident, especially in the first half, that the team had a clear pattern of play and that all the players knew their roles on and off the ball. Although Conte has only been at the club for a couple of days, his fingerprints on the side were quite visible.

Related Topics