Former Manchester United star Owen Hargreaves has revealed he was ‘blown away’ after interviewing Tottenham boss Antonio Conte at the club’s Hotspur Way training ground.
Conte took over the reins from Nuno Espirito Santo back in November and has completely changed the mentality in N17.
Tottenham were free falling under Nuno, but the ex-Inter Milan manager came in and turned things around to get them out of their plight, even exceeding expectations in the process.
Champions League qualification would not have been in anyone’s mind when Spurs initially appointed Conte. He was expected to steady the ship, but the Italian improved the team considerably and even helped them to get into the prestigious European competition.
A large part of this came down to the recruitment of Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur, who joined the team last January. Both were underperforming at Juventus, but the former Chelsea boss helped the duo to get back to their best, at Spurs’ reward.
Hargreaves revealed that he recently interviewed Conte at Hotspur Way and was left in awe of the Italian coach. The ex-Red Devils player expects the north London outfit to create issues for top clubs after knowing more about the boss’ philosophy and mindset.
Speaking to Premier League Productions (10/08/22), Hargreaves said: “I did an interview with him [Conte] at Tottenham’s training ground and I was blown away by him. I really came away from that interview thinking ‘these guys are going to be a threat’.”
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“The last thing I said to him (Conte) was ‘you are going to be a threat to the big teams’. They play differently to Manchester City and Liverpool. But with his philosophy, mentality, the ability to break up play, the intensity, Kane, Son and Kulusesvki.
“And now you are bringing in Richarlison. They bring in Bissouma, who is more athletic and dynamic. Then these guys are going to be a problem for everyone. I think right now, on paper, they are the third best team on paper.”
Spurs Web Opinion:
Conte did enjoy great results against top clubs like Manchester City and Liverpool in the previous campaign. We have improved quite a lot since we faced them last season and have even bolstered our ranks in this summer transfer window.
As such, we can be expected to mount a stern challenge, especially with our front trio, who are excellent to be utilised in Conte’s transition style of play. Not to mention, he has also added players like Yves Bissouma and Ivan Perisic, who would fall into that category, making us a solid team overall in the process.
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