Following his side’s emphatic 3 – 1 win against Nottingham Forest on Saturday, Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte has claimed that a top four finish is akin to a Premier League win.
Conte and Spurs have suffered in the league this season and have also had challenges in other competitions. They were knocked out of the UEFA Champions League last Wednesday, marking the end of their participation in all cup competitions they were eligible for in the 2022/23 season. This left them with only the Premier League to fight for.
Their emphatic win over Nottingham Forest thanks to two goals from their all time leading goalscorer, Harry Kane, and his strike partner Son Heung-Min was a great response to that loss. As a result, they are currently fourth on the log and five points ahead of Liverpool in fifth place. However, erratic form has shown how they can drop the ball when the going gets tough.
Conte alludes to this in his comments after the game where he likened a comfortable top four finish after the season they have had to winning the league.
“There are 11 games to go and we needed today to bounce back to show that we are strong mentally and in this type of situation the morale can be really down but instead I see the right spirit, the right fight and the right desire to get the three points,” Conte said.
“For sure I repeat for us to finish in the top four is like to win the Premier League. It happen last season and I spoke about miracle.
“I continue to say maybe this season it be much more difficult, much more difficult because Liverpool is a competitor in this race. Newcastle is a competitor but Newcastle is a different Newcastle to the past. They invest a lot of money and they have a strong team.
“See Chelsea and what happen and their position, but I don’t consider Chelsea outside because Chelsea has the possibility to win the last 11 or 12 games in a row because the squad is really, really strong.
“We have to think to ourselves. Before during an interview, they ask me about Liverpool and today Liverpool lost but we have to think to ourselves. A top club looks to themselves, not to look at other results and see.”
Kane’s first of the game was a penalty, his first since he missed the vital one that could have sent England to the semi-finals of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar ahead of eventual finalists France.
Asked if he had any doubts about Kane’s ability to take the spot kick, the Italian manager said: “No, never (any doubts) but he can kick the penalty also if he is blind.”
Then he added: “We are talking about a player who is a world-class striker and is really important but for me it is really difficult to think and to answer this question.
“We talk about singular achievements you understand? Instead we want to speak about team achievement.
“This is the problem because a singular achievement is yeah, good for the players but at the same time it would be better to speak about to win together and to celebrate a trophy together and then also singular achievement.
“Harry was a good example but not for the goal that he score. For his commitment and his desire.
“Today in my players I have seen the fire in their eyes.”
