MY ACCOUNT
Tottenham head coach Antonio Conte has suggested the club must match his ambition as he looks to improve Spurs.
Conte only signed a contract for a year and a half after taking over from Nuno Espirito Santo in November.
The former Inter coach believes that is not an issue, however, as he insisted he has joined Spurs to help build the club.
However, Conte – who left Inter last year after winning the title amid financial limitations – also implied that Tottenham must match his ambition in order to grow.
“I signed a contract for this season and next season,” Conte told a news conference ahead of Spurs’ FA Cup third-round tie with Morecambe.
“I think that we decided together, the club and I, to go for this decision. I think that I don’t need a long contract to be sure to work for a club. I think that the club has to appreciate my job and then extend my contract, but only if I showed the club I deserve this.
“I’m not a coach that wants many years of a contract. Also, it’s not fair, because I know very well I’m a top coach with an important salary for the club.
“I’m open to improve the Tottenham situation and I decided to sign a contract with this club and I’m available to give my opinion, to give my vision, and it won’t be a problem for me, a short contract – only one year to go. It’s OK because Tottenham has to be sure 120 per cent to continue to work with me.
“I’m happy to work with this group because they are giving me great availability. But at the same time, you know the club has to know my vision, has to know my opinion about the situation and especially what is our ambition.”
Conte has overseen a turnaround in fortunes for Spurs, going unbeaten in his first eight Premier League games in charge, winning five of them.
Under the ex-Chelsea and Italy boss, Tottenham have scored 14 league goals, conceding just four times.
That is in contrast to 11 top-flight goals netted and 16 goals conceded across 10 games during Nuno’s brief stint, with the Portuguese overseeing five wins and as many defeats.
Spurs are far more creative under Conte, averaging 11.5 chances per game compared to 7.1 under Nuno.
Their expected goals (xG) average per game has also doubled, from 1.0 to 2.0, while they are better defensively, facing on average 10 shots per match as opposed to 15, with their mean xGA (expected goals against) value dropping from 1.5 to 0.78.
“When I decided to sign with Tottenham, I know what happened recently in the story of the club,” Conte said.
“When you arrive at a new club, you have to go into the situation to understand it very well and to know it very well.
“Outside you can only imagine. It’s the same with the players. Outside, you can give an evaluation about a player and then I think when you are the coach of the player and you live with the player day by day, you understand everything about the player and I think it’s the same for me.
“I am enjoying my time in Tottenham because I have found a group of players who have shown me a great availability, and they show me the will, the desire to improve in many aspects, and when you have this type of player you are happy.”
