Antonio Conte sees some similarities between the way his team and Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham set up to play the game.
When he was in charge of Italy, Conte spent a day with Pochettino at Tottenham’s training ground and spoke with the Argentinean about training methods and more, something he revealed ahead of November’s meeting.
Now, before the reverse fixture in north London, he has explained what is comparable about the two managers’ style of play.
‘We like to play from the back, to play with possession and to prepare different solutions to go and score goals,’ Conte said.
‘After every action, there is always the work behind it. My players must be clinical, not me on the bench, because they have the opportunity to score and do the movements you prepare during the week.
‘Tottenham in this part of the season were unlucky in some games,’ Conte continued. ‘Now there is this difference in the table only because we did an incredible run.
‘We have great respect for them and we showed this in the first game against them. Then it’s normal during the game you want to beat your opponent. It will be so today.’
Conte has also drawn comparisons between his final campaign in charge of Juventus, which included 12 straight league wins, and the English Premier League he has become a part of this term.
‘In the last season we finished with 102 points, a record in Italy. It was a fantastic championship. At that moment in the Italian league there was only Roma to try to fight for the title.
‘Here there is a different situation because there are six very strong teams that last season were placed above us, and also spent a lot of money. For this reason, I think it’s more difficult here now to keep this position [at the top of the table].’
