I am ready to die for Spurs - Conte

LONDON – Tottenham Head Coach Antonio Conte insisted he would ‘die for this club’ until the end of the season but admitted the contract he signed at the start of his tenure was strange.

Speculation over his future continues with the Italian’s current terms expiring in the summer and Spurs’ poor form - where they have exited the FA Cup and Champions League already this month - has contributed towards many feeling a parting of ways is best for both parties.

But Conte insisted: ‘‘The club knows very well which is my situation, which is my thoughts. If I have to become the person to take as a target? No. I am not this person.

‘‘We need time and patience. I understood that here the patience is finished for the fans, for the environment and then we will see what happens in the future.

‘‘I am not so stupid to kill myself. If you ask me now am I ready now to die for this club? Yes. Until the end I am ready to die for this club. But I am not so stupid to kill myself.’’

LONDON – Antonio Conte agreed with Richarlison’s x-rated assessment of his first season at Tottenham because he has not scored a Premier League goal, and accused the Brazil international of selfishness.

Conte sat down with his £50 million striker to go through every word of the explosive interview he gave to broadcasters TNT Sports after Spurs crashed out of the Champions League against Milan on Wednesday.

Richarlison said this season had been ‘sh**’ and that he should have played more games but Conte said: ‘‘I watched the interview of Richarlison and he didn’t criticise me.

‘‘He said ‘my season is s***’ and he is right because his season is no good, because he had a lot of injuries.

‘‘He started well with us, he then had injury in the Champions League and then he went to the World Cup and he had another serious injury. He came back and stayed one month out. Then another injury.

‘‘He scored zero goals with us, only two goals in Champions League and I think the guy was really honest to tell that his season is not good.

‘‘His season and our season has still not finished and he has time to recover. If he deserves to play, I give him opportunity otherwise we will play another player.’’

Conte took issue with Richarlison for talking more about himself and his own problems than the team.

‘‘If you ask me for rest of interview I think that the guy understood very well that he made mistake because when you speak with ‘I, I and I’, not with us.

‘‘It means you are only about yourself are selfish.

‘‘For this reason, I analysed this situation and to repeat to my players that if we want to build something important, if you want to try to fight for something important, if we want to fight to be competitive and to win a trophy, you have to speak with ‘we’ and not with ‘I’.

‘‘If we speak ‘I, I and I’, it means that you are only thinking only about yourself and not the others and club,’’ he said. thinking and you