Tottenham head coach Antonio Conte has admitted he is prepared to walk away from the club if he is not ‘convinced’ the work they are doing will lead to success.
Spurs have won just one of their last five games and fans have become restless at this season’s downward trend after a promising start.
Conte’s contract has six months to run and talks have slowed over a new deal, with the Italian previously insisting he does not care for the length of official commitments and prefers to work in the moment.
Speaking ahead of Spurs’ trip to Crystal Palace on Wednesday, Conte admitted he had to lower his own expectations upon arriving at the club last season, but if they do not ultimately match his ambitions, he is ready to leave.
“At the start for me it wasn’t easy but then I think this is an important experience. I accepted to do this because I found a great club, a modern club and for this reason I’m happy to work here. I found people that want to be positive and try to create. I found people that know the reality. For this reason, I accepted this,” he said.
“Otherwise, if these people had said to me we have to win I would have said sorry but this is not the right moment to think that in one year you have to win. For this reason, I accepted this.
“Now, the task is this, my big challenge is this. To continue to work so strong with my staff and the players to improve the club, to create a solid foundation. Then if I am satisfied to continue to do this work and to one day see the result I will continue to stay. If I’m not convinced 100 per cent then I can leave my work, I can leave my work here.
“It’s a big work we are doing together. I know very well what it is and it’s important. My task is this, and if you asked me you are used to [winning], yeah but to win you have to stay in the right condition. My task with the club is to create a solid base for Tottenham to come back to be competitive and to have the ambition, but in a strong way not only with words.”
On whether he was frustrated at Tottenham not being ready-made winners like some of his previous clubs, Conte added: “Here, I understood that my task is different. My task here is to help the club, to build a solid foundation, to create a base and then to try to improve. This is my task here, this is my challenge here. If you ask me – and the challenge for you – is to win the Premier League, to win the Champions League, this is not the task here in this moment.
“The task for me is to help the club. I found and I signed a contract in November 2021 when I found the club in a difficult position for many reasons. Now my task, I understood it very well, is to try to help the club go in the right direction or to come back in the right direction about the choices of the players, about the work, to organise and to create a foundation. Now this is my big challenge here. Now if I want to stay here, then I have to accept this. Otherwise, if I do not want to accept this then I have to go.”
Credit: 90min.com
