Conte explains what angered him at Tottenham - 'Do not celebrate these things'
Former Tottenham manager Antonio Conte has reflected on his time in charge of the club and the Napoli boss has detailed one moment in particular which shocked him
Antonio Conte has opened up about his time in charge of Tottenham and taken a dig at the club for celebrating for a top-four finish. Conte joined Spurs in November 2021 after Nuno Espirito Santo was sacked and they went on to finish fourth that season.
Spurs finished two points ahead of fierce rivals Arsenal after beating them 3-0 in a North London derby clash with just two games left to play. As a result, Tottenham qualified for the Champions League and Arsenal ended up in the Europa League.
And Conte was left shocked by the way his side celebrated finishing fourth, claiming that "going to the Champions League was like winning the Premier League". Reflecting on his time at Spurs, Conte told Sky Italia: "It was a difficult year at Tottenham.
"I arrived in November with them ninth in the standings and we ended up in the Champions League, overtaking Arsenal… For them, going to the Champions League was like winning the Premier League.
"On the last day, the Champions League entry was celebrated in the dressing room. I called my staff and told them: we don't get used to these celebrations.
"You don't celebrate these things. We are used to celebrating other things. OK, great feat, but at the same time, we understand what kind of celebration it is."
Conte was axed the following season after publicly criticising the club and questioning his squad's mentality following a 3-3 draw with Southampton where Spurs blew a 3-1 lead. "Why is it happening? Because they are used to it here, they are used to it," he fumed.
"They don't play for something important yeah. They don't want to play under pressure, they don't want to play under stress. It is easy in this way.
"Tottenham's story is this. 20 years there is the owner and they never won something but why The fault is only for the club, or for every manager that stay here. I have seen the managers that Tottenham had on the bench.
"You risk to disrupt the figure of the manager and to protect the other situation in every moment. Until now I try to hide the situation but now no because I repeat I don't want to see what I have seen today because this is unacceptable and also unacceptable for the fans.
"They follow us, pay the ticket and to see the team another time to have this type of performance is unacceptable. We have to think a lot about this."
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