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Tottenham midfielder Yves Bissouma is enjoying playing for Antonio Conte, describing the Italian as “crazy, like me”.
The Mali international made his first start for Spurs in their final pre-season friendly against Roma in Haifa, Israel on Saturday, which the Serie A side won 1-0 through a Roger Ibanez header.
Bissouma joined Tottenham from Brighton and Hove Albion for a reported fee of £25million in June, and he told the club’s website he believes Conte will push the north London side onto the next level.
“I’m very happy to be with [Conte] and this club,” he said after the Roma game. “He’s living football and I like that. I like a coach like him, and I know he can push the team higher and the players as well.
“We are trying to do what he wants, and every training [session] is not easier, but we are working [hard].
“I like him because he’s crazy, like me. But good crazy, because he’s crazy of football.”
Meanwhile, Conte saw the positives despite defeat to former Spurs boss Jose Mourinho, although Tottenham’s head coach was unhappy with the manor in which his team conceded from a set piece.
“For sure, it was a very tough game, but I think it’s good in this way, because in one week, we have to start the season,” he said.
“It’s positive to have this type of test, a tough test, and to understand if we want to try to be competitive and try to get a win in every game, we have to continue to go strong in every situation.
“The players know we don’t want to lose, even in a friendly game. Tonight, we lost due to a detail, because we conceded a goal from a corner, and we have to pay more attention, because if you want to go to another level, you have to take care of the details.”
