WATCH AND LEARN
Conte could ‘teach football to many people’ but will always keep it tight
ANTONIO CONTE came out swinging with a robust defence of his methods, insisting: “I’m not stupid – I can teach football to many people.”
The Tottenham boss, stung by criticism after Saturday’s north London derby defeat, levelled an indirect dig at Manchester United shipping six in their own derby with a reminder his teams have never been so porous.
But with Spurs stuttering after two defeats in three games, the Italian conceded his team needed to “play with more personality” in red-hot atmospheres after dropping points in three capital derbies and slipping to a Champions League defeat in Lisbon.
Another ear-splitting din is coming their way tonight in the Deutsche Bank Park, and defeat against Eintracht Frankfurt would leave Conte facing an uphill battle to make headway in Europe.
Conte has not enjoyed pundits raving about Arsenal’s fluid style in comparison to Spurs’ more ponderous approach.
He said: “If we were able to exploit the situation, especially last passes, we would have been able to score many goals against Arsenal.
“Instead, we made really bad mistakes for the last passes because we had opportunities to go one-to-one, but every team has to understand the way to play different games.
“Last season we won 3-0 against Arsenal and, when you win, the opponent has to explain. But for me it’s important to have a plan, to put my players in the best possible situation to exploit their characteristics.
“Otherwise it can happen you can concede six, seven or eight goals – in England that happens a lot of times. In my career never, because I don’t like to play open, concede a lot of space and concede six, seven or eight goals.
“I won in England, I won in my past and I think I can teach football to many people.”
Conte gave short shrift to fans wanting to see £20million wing-back Djed Spence, who has been limited to a bit-part against Nottingham Forest.
He added: “The fans can think anything, but I see the training sessions every day. If I don’t decide to pick a player, it’s because maybe he’s not ready.”
Conte has demanded no hangovers from the crushing Emirates disappointment and wants to see more evidence his players can handle the big occasions.
He admitted: “This is the story. Also last season in Europe, we lost many games away. We lost to Pacos de Ferreira, we lost against Vitesse and then we lost against Mura with me.
“This season it’s the same story – we lost against Sporting and now Arsenal away. Then we drew with West Ham and Chelsea. We have to do much better when we play away.”