Antonio Conte claims Tottenham Hotspur have learned from the mistakes they made at Old Trafford last season and admitted that he is looking forward to the test his side will face this evening.
Despite sitting level on points with Manchester City after the first ten Premier League games of the season, pundits still seem hesitant to praise Spurs, with many questioning if their results are sustainable, given the way they play (NBC Sports).
However, the Lilywhites are certainly seen by many as favourites to finish in the top four again this season – something that is perhaps not true of the Red Devils.
The Man Utd players are still getting accustomed to Erik Ten Hag’s style of play and their results have been rather mixed so far.
However, Conte is in no doubt that it is only a matter of time before United become one of the biggest forces in English football again.
Ahead of his side’s trip up north, the Italian told Football.London: “Manchester United always have the power. Even in the last 10 years, every season, they had the power to go into the transfer market and to invest big, big money.
“They did this two years ago, when they finished second. They went into the transfer market to sign Cristiano Ronaldo, Sancho and Varane from Real Madrid.
MORE SPURS STORIES
“This power never finished at Old Trafford. Maybe the results were not at the same level as the investment, but United for the present and the future will always be a monster that you have to go to fight. They have big, big potential from an economic aspect.”
Spurs fell to a 3-2 loss at the Theatre of Dreams back in March, courtesy of a Cristiano Ronaldo hat-trick but Conte believes that his side are now much better equipped to win away at United than they were seven months ago.
When asked about the loss back in March, he responded: “For sure when you lose you need to use the loss to try to learn something more, to avoid in the future to repeat the same mistakes.
“I think last season Cristiano Ronaldo was really important. We didn’t lose against United, we lost against Cristiano Ronaldo.
“He invested three goals, fantastic goals and I remember that before the game he was [not certain] of his presence in the formation, in the starting line-up.
“Instead he played and he scored three goals. On Wednesday it will be another important game. I think, compared to last season, we have improved in many aspects, but when you go to play against United especially at Old Trafford, it will be a difficult game.
“At the same time, I enjoy the fact that this test is coming now. We need to understand very well what are our ambitions and to continue to try to get good results.”
Spurs Web Opinion
It is not often that I am this confident heading into a game at Old Trafford but I am genuinely excited to see if we can win this evening. That is mainly due to the solidity that Conte has instilled in the side.
Of course, there is a very real chance that we could get beat but I have no doubt that we will be well in the game. I am also encouraged the fact that we always tend to finish games very strongly, given our fitness levels.
Keep up to date with all the latest Tottenham news and opinion by following SpursWeb’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.
