Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte shrugged aside suggestions that he has been more quiet on the touchline in recent games, saying he has been trying to stay calmer to educate his players to take more responsibility.
Conte, like Liverpool’s Juergen Klopp, is one of the league’s most energetic managers, spending significant periods of time in his technical area during games.
Tottenham’s previous three games have all been in cup competitions, with home and away losses to Chelsea in the League Cup semifinals, followed by a 3-1 victory against Morecambe in the FA Cup.
“You’ll have to ask the referee or the fourth official if I was cool versus Chelsea,” Conte said at a press conference on Friday, ahead of his team’s Premier League encounter against Arsenal this weekend. “This inquiry would catch him off guard.
“Throughout my managerial (career), I’ve had to try and see what the response of all of my players is when I keep calm. This, too, appears to be a strategy.” I can drive the automobile, but the driver must be seated and calm at all times. “If I want to push myself to experience the game in a different way, it’ll be very, very difficult,” he says, “but sometimes I have to stay seated and leave my players to make the best option and face the game during the challenges.”
Spurs remain sixth in the table, two points and a spot below Arsenal, but they have two games in hand. With a win at home on Sunday, they would leapfrog their fiercest rivals.
Conte stated that Arsenal was likely further along in their growth and that he would use the game to assess Spurs’ progress since he took over in November.
“They had more time than us, and (Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta) had the opportunity to work with the players for a couple of years… maybe that’s why they’re ahead of us in the project because they started with the same coach as us,” Conte remarked.
“Arsenal is a fantastic squad, but we want to… play this type of game and see how far we’ve progressed.”
Due to a combination of Covid-19 instances and injuries, the Spurs have already lost several players. Conte said that defender Eric Dier is still out with a muscle injury, and that another player is suspected of having Covid-19.