CONTE: KANE’S A KILLER
New Tottenham manager blown away by Harry’s class in training
ANTONIO Conte says the sheer brilliance of Harry Kane can Spur Tottenham to glory.
The Italian admits he didn’t realise just how good the England skipper was until he started working with him at the Londoners.
Conte says he hasn’t spoken to Kane about keeping him at Spurs with Manchester City likely to come calling again in January.
Pep Guardiola’s men missed out on signing the big striker last summer and it’s obvious that they are missing a proper frontman.
Conte’s not worried about that – he just wants to get on with sorting out Spurs with Kane’s help. And he thinks the England hitman is happy to work with him too.
He said: “Harry knows me very well and my history is very clear.
“I’m not someone who is happy starting somewhere without having a top target and that’s the people I like to work with.
“There is the will to build something important and Harry knows this.
“I wouldn’t be here if there wasn’t ambition from me or from my players. I’ve told them I’m here because I trust them.
“You can stay for many years in the same team but you only write the story at this club if you win.
“By winning trophies, you go into the story of the club.
“I understand that Harry is someone who wants to win trophies and he can helped us achieve this as we’re talking about a world- class player.
“He’s a player with great talent and in these eight days that we’ve worked together I can see that it is enough to tell him only once what it is I want in a moment.”
Conte knew Kane was classy but has been blown away with him in the few training sessions he has taken.
The Italian said: “He understands quickly and he’s shown me that he’s a clever player.
“He weighs up every situation and knows exactly where the keeper is whenever he’s inside the box – the first post, the second post or whether he can kick it through his legs.
Pleasure
“If you’re not the coach, you can still know a player but only superficially.
“It’s only when you’re really close to them that you can truly know the levels of their talent.
“Now I’m working with Harry, I have the pleasure and opportunity of knowing him I can tell you that we’re talking about a really top player. He wants to win and so do we.
“After two or three weeks, I’m sure I haven’t made a mistake in taking this decision.”
Conte won the Premier League with Chelsea and says he’s happy to be back in England after another successful spell in England. He added: “I’m happy to be back. “This is a great club and I’m really enjoying it. We have an amazing infrastructure in terms of the stadium and the training centre, so I feel this is the right place for me to work in the way that I like.”
But Conte is trying to play down the great expectations that he will have Tottenham in the top four within weeks.
He reckons it will be a lot tougher than that.
Conte said: “I am not a magician. “I don’t have the capacity to completely change the situation
immediately, but honestly I’m happy because I know Tottenham is the right fit for me.
“We want to build something strong and something important for the present and for the future. We have everything around us in place and we have to now reach this top level with the team.”
Underdogs
Critics say Conte only comes into teams that already have strong squads and spends big money before leaving quickly.
But he reckons that’s a load of nonsense. He said: “At Juventus, Chelsea and Inter Milan we were underdogs.
“I remember at the start Juventus were out of Europe while Chelsea were 10th the season before me. At Inter it was the same as they hadn’t won the league in 10 years, but I’m not here just to enjoy but to build something important.
“I have to be honest with the fans and say that at this moment and for many reasons, there is a gap with at least four teams.
“We have to work hard to try to close this gap in a short time. If you get the time, you can’t waste it.
“The target for myself and for the club is to be competitive and to try to fight with teams that right now I feel are higher than us.
“Arriving during the middle of the season is not easy for me and for everyone but this is another big challenge.
“Maybe this is a bit more of a challenge than I’ve had before in terms of its difficulty but I enjoy this type of situation.
“I’m not interested in speaking about the club’s past – I prefer to focus on Tottenham starting a new path to try to have a new era.”