Antonio Conte claims he’s more focused on the moment than his long-term goals. Tottenham Hotspur future as he spoke of the club’s desire to reach the Champions LeagueKnockout stages
Sporting hosts Spurs at home Wednesday night, knowing that a win will see them through to the 16th round with one game remaining.
But the issue of Conte’s future – his contract expires in the summer, albeit there is an option to extend it – continues to rumble on.
When asked if he would see the job through at Spurs, Conte, who was appointed last November, said: “It’s not the right moment to answer. After a year, I’ve understood a lot of things.
“The first moment for me was really difficult to understand. Now I’m going into the Tottenham world and understanding very well what is our situation, our position, our starting point, how long the path is we have to do to be competitive, to fight for something important.
“Now for sure my knowledge about Tottenham, I have more. For this reason, I’d be prepared at the (right) moment that we’re going to speak with the club to understand what’s best for the future. We must now focus on the moment.
“My desire, my will is to do our best. To satisfy our fans, we must do everything possible. This is the highest aspiration for everyone. For the other situation, we’ll see the right moment.”
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Spurs were defeated in the reverse fixture in Lisbon by Spurs 2-0. However, they still managed to take four points off FrankfurtWith the support of other results, have progressed with victory since then, ahead of next week’s final group game at Marseille.
“We have a great opportunity to win and go to the next round,” Conte said. “It would be a really good achievement for a club like Tottenham that last season was in the Conference League and in November we were in trouble.
“It’s important for the club, for the fans, for the players, for me, for everybody. We’re talking about the biggest competition in Europe. We have a great desire and great will to go to the next round, especially because we want to show we deserve to stay in this competition.”
Spurs will be again without Dejan Kulusevski(thigh). Richarlison(calf), however Conte did not rule out involvement Cristian RomeroOr Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, who both missed Sunday’s defeat to NewcastleWith minor knocks.
“Kulusevski and Richarlison are recovering but not ready,” he added. “Romero and Hojbjerg, tomorrow morning we’ll see. We’ll try everything because it’s an important game.
“I want to check tomorrow morning what is the real situation with injury, who’s ready to play from the start or not. I’m waiting until tomorrow morning and then will make the best decision.”
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Conte suggests sticking together but there are cracks below the surface
(Photo by Getty Images).
