Last Update: February 14, 2023, 10:50 IST
Antonio Conte says football in Italy sometimes resembles war. (AP Photo)
Manager Antonio Conte will be in the Tottenham Spurs dugout two weeks after gallbladder surgery
Antonio Conte said on Monday that he is looking to give some Italian-style focus to an inconsistent Tottenham Hotspur in their Champions League last-16 clash with AC Milan.
Spurs face Italian champions Milan at the San Siro in Tuesday’s first leg after a bumpy run in which they beat Manchester City and battled with injuries before being hammered 4-1 by Leicester.
And Conte said he was having trouble finding the kind of focus that wins trophies and which he believes is a key feature of Italian football.
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“This year we started off on the right foot and then we started getting injuries, especially in attack… We were up and down,” Conte told reporters.
“I’ve always said that if you want to aim for something, consistency is the key, not having these ups and downs.
“I’m trying to work on it but England is not Italy – we have a different culture and we are more focused, in England it is difficult to maintain that level of concentration for every match.”
Asked why he felt it was difficult to maintain focus in England, Conte said Italian football is a high-pressure, intense environment that stresses concentration.
“In Italy you talk about football from Monday and you finish on Sunday… You have TV (channels) that speak only football and they put a lot of pressure. You are born like this and grow like this with pressure, and you get used to it,” Conte said.
“In England I think there is an atmosphere where you can enjoy football without any pressure, because football is a sport.
“Sometimes football in Italy is not just a game. Sometimes it is a war, between teams and between fans.”
Conte will be in the Spurs dugout two weeks after gallbladder surgery and will also be without France captain Hugo Lloris in goal, missing Yves Bissouma, Ryan Sessegnon and Rodrigo Bentancur who were all injured in the past week. have become
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Spurs announced on Monday that Bentancur was out for the rest of the season with cruciate ligament damage in his left knee.
“Rodrigo is very strong on and off the pitch, he is unbelievable,” said Dejan Kulusevski, who played in Italy with Atalanta, Parma and Juventus before moving to London.
“He is very positive, I wonder how he can be so positive after news like this. We will miss him on the pitch but off the pitch he is a wonderful person. He will come back stronger.”
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)