“One of the best” Conte praises Spurs boss

Tottenham will clash with Chelsea at the Stamford bridge on Saturday. The last time the two met, Chelsea drew with Tottenham, stopping their title challenge when it was most feasible.

The clash heated tempers up as Leicester went on to be crowned English Champions.

The newly appointed Chelsea manager, Antonio Conte, has revealed a meeting he had with his North London counterpart whom he sees in a very positive light.

While still a coach of the Italian national team, the former Juventus manager visited West Ham, Tottenham and Chelsea in bid to know the English culture and also learn from Sam Allardyce, Pochettino and Jose Mourinho as he looked forward to taking over the reigns at Stamford Bridge.

Speaking at the Tottenham clash pre-conference, Conte had nice words for Pochettino whom he had a chance of speaking football at length with.

“I spoke with him and his staff, and we watched a video. I remember that day with great emotion because we spoke a lot about football. When I have the possibility to talk with another coach, another manager, about football I’m very pleased and happy.

“I visited the training ground of Tottenham, a good training ground. I wanted to come in England and compare my ideas and watch the training sessions. My visit was at West Ham, three days, and Tottenham and Chelsea. It was a fantastic work trip.”

Conte also said as much as managers have conversations about football ideas and training, that they also keep a lot to themselves and he believes so because he does.

I watched the training sessions,” he continued. “I spoke with different managers: with Sam Allardyce, with Pochettino and Jose Mourinho here. And it was fantastic because, I repeat, when I have the possibility to compare my ideas and my work with the work of the others, for me it’s a moment where I can learn a lot.

“I compared my ideas, my work, with the work of the others. Then, for sure, with these discussions we can learn. For sure, when you talk… when there is a discussion between two managers, you talk about football.
“But not completely about your ideas. You talk. You can talk about 30, 35 per cent of your ideas. The other 65 per cent of your ideas you keep for yourself. It’s logical this, for me and the other managers. You study a lot.”