Antonio Conte has fired shot at Chelsea and Manchester United by sayimg they have no excuses for arguing they are in ‘transition’ due to the success they have had in recent years.
Spurs are competing with the traditional Premier League powerhouses for a top four position this campaign but have been rocked by consecutive defeats against United and Newcastle.
Despite those setbacks, the last six months have represented a turbulence free period for Spurs who pipped Arsenal to Champions League qualification last campaign before embarking on an outstanding summer recruitment drive.
By contrast, United and Chelsea have been adjusting to the tactical demands of Erik ten Hag and Graham Potter, but Conte feels it is unfair to compare Spurs to clubs who have invested so heavily in their squads.
Asked if he sensed a chance for Spurs this season, Conte said ‘If Chelsea are in transition after they won the Champions League two years ago and last season they won the World Cup, United two years ago finished second. If these clubs that can invest a lot of money are in transition, I don’t know who are the title contenders?
‘In November, we were ninth. We were playing Conference League, and you think United and Chelsea are in transition? With Ronaldo, Varane, Sancho, in transition? I hope to be in transition this way.’
Conte will be hoping to spend again in January once the window reopens, particularly given the injury concerns surrounding Dejan Kulusevski who hasn’t played since he suffered a hamstring strain before the international break.
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He said: ‘I think in this moment we have to be concentrated on the present and to try to do our best,” he said.
‘Now is not the right moment to answer. For sure, since November and after one year I understood a lot of things that in the first moment for me was really difficult to understand.
‘Now I am going into Tottenham world and which is our situation, which is our position and which is our starting point and how long is the path that we do to be competitive and fight for something important.
‘For sure, my knowledge about Tottenham, I have more and is more complete.
‘For this reason, I am prepared to speak to the club for which is the best for the future but now we need to be focused on the present because my desire and my players’ is to do our best to give satisfaction to our fans.’
