Conte Questions Spurs Ambitions..

[PeeEyeEmPee]

everyone is getting all bent out of shape over this, and I don't understand why. first of all, Conte was responding to a question being asked, rather than just deciding to have a pop at Tottenham. secondly, until we prove him wrong, there's absolutely NOTHING wrong with what he has said.

"If [Spurs] don't win the title, it's not a tragedy," said Conte.

"If they don't arrive in the Champions League, it's not a tragedy. If they go out in the first round of the Champions League, it's not a tragedy. If they go out after the first game that they play in the Europa League, it's not a tragedy.

"Maybe for Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United and - I don't know - Liverpool, it is a tragedy. You must understand the status of the team.

he's absolutely correct IMO. if we finish 5th and get knocked out of Europe early next season, it won't be seen as a disaster by anyone. we've got the Wembley excuse for a start, but can also claim poverty in relation to the big clubs, and make endless noises about how we're building for the future. for Chelsea, Arsenal, City, and United, even 3rd and an early KO in Europe would be a HUGE disaster, almost certainly costing those managers (Wenger excepted, possibly) their jobs. the pressure and expectation they are playing under is completely different to those that we are. we can't have it both ways. on one hand we're preaching patience for Poch, hoping some of our youngsters break through and develop, setting CL qualification as a realistic expectation etc, and on the other we're getting upset about others pointing out that this isn't a luxury afforded to them.

so yes, if the success of failure of your job is going to be judged by whether or not you win the league and Champions League, then yes not going into the transfer market while others around you are isn't really an option. I can't see how his comments translate to him being scared of us though. let's be honest, we finished 2nd, but we didn't get close enough at any point to challenge them last season at all. from his position, what exactly does he have to be scared of?

 

[Krule]

everyone is getting all bent out of shape over this, and I don't understand why. first of all, Conte was responding to a question being asked, rather than just deciding to have a pop at Tottenham. secondly, until we prove him wrong, there's absolutely NOTHING wrong with what he has said.



he's absolutely correct IMO. if we finish 5th and get knocked out of Europe early next season, it won't be seen as a disaster by anyone. we've got the Wembley excuse for a start, but can also claim poverty in relation to the big clubs, and make endless noises about how we're building for the future. for Chelsea, Arsenal, City, and United, even 3rd and an early KO in Europe would be a HUGE disaster, almost certainly costing those managers (Wenger excepted, possibly) their jobs. the pressure and expectation they are playing under is completely different to those that we are. we can't have it both ways. on one hand we're preaching patience for Poch, hoping some of our youngsters break through and develop, setting CL qualification as a realistic expectation etc, and on the other we're getting upset about others pointing out that this isn't a luxury afforded to them.

so yes, if the success of failure of your job is going to be judged by whether or not you win the league and Champions League, then yes not going into the transfer market while others around you are isn't really an option. I can't see how his comments translate to him being scared of us though. let's be honest, we finished 2nd, but we didn't get close enough at any point to challenge them last season at all. from his position, what exactly does he have to be scared of?

The alternative viewpoint on this excellently and articulately expressed....you raise some valid points for consideration. It really is quite a 'hot' seat these guys sit in...but then their contract settlement figures, if the sack does come, are usually astronomical and for some reason they seem to find another club rather quickly. Thankfully we have Poch and he seems extremely happy with our set up.

 

[kmk]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football...-spurs-ambition-should-lauded-not-questioned/

Despite spending nothing, Spurs' ambition should be lauded not questioned

It was interpreted as a slight on Tottenham Hotspur but, when Antonio Conte on Wednesday questioned the expectations inside White Hart Lane, perhaps the correct answer was that they are in fact the most ambitious club in the entire Premier League. Just not in a way that Chelsea might understand.
And so while yes, Spurs’ transfer spending might currently stand at £0 out of almost £1 billion throughout the rest of the league and, yes, a fourth season without silverware is unlikely to be so terminal for Mauricio Pochettino as a Chelsea manager, are these really the only markers of ambition? And is ambition only ever manifested in the short-term?

After all, you need only walk up Tottenham High Road to see a new stadium taking shape. It is hard to think of anything more visibly aspirational in the long-term than the largest club ground in London. The first-team squad is currently in the United States but, at the club’s Enfield training base, the ambition that burns through the various developmental teams is also tangible.

That is partly the natural exuberance of youth but the dynamic is surely transformed and magnified by what they see around them. A manager that will be ready to risk his own reputation on giving them a chance. A club that is not always looking for an expensive quick fix but who actively want to create a pathway to the first-team. And players like Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Eric Dier, Danny Rose, Kieran Trippier and perhaps now Harry Winks, who have come to form the core of a team that, since the turn of the year, has out-performed any other in the Premier League.

Is it really more ambitious to buy the likes of Antonio Rudiger, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Alvaro Morata while selling internally developed talent like Nathan Ake, Nathaniel Chalobah and Dominic Solanke? Is it also necessarily more effective than seeing through a policy of developing young players and promoting academy talent? While Kyle Walker has been sold for a fee that could top £50 million, perhaps the biggest coup of this entire transfer window so far is in how Spurs seem to be keeping their top talent so happy with such minimum fuss.

Conte has admitted that Kane is worth at least £100 million and, although Harry Redknapp was mocked by some last summer for saying that Alli was a more complete midfielder than Paul Pogba, the subsequent on-field evidence was emphatically in his favour. Tottenham’s philosophy appears to be breeding an uncommon loyalty.

And so, while uncertainly stalks so much top talent – both Chelsea and Arsenal face losing their main strikers – there is little doubt over where Kane and Alli will be starting the season. It is unlikely to remain financially sustainable indefinitely but is still a testament to what Pochettino and his chairman Daniel Levy have created.

The irony is that it was Tottenham’s fiercest rivals – Arsenal – who came closest to executing a comparable strategy. In the midst of similar financial restraint between 2005 and 2012, Arsenal also went down a path both of trying to nurture players who had been recruited relatively cheaply before their peak alongside giving opportunity to people from their academy.

Their net spend over a series of transfer windows was similarly positive. Arsene Wenger also did come closer than is generally realised to pulling it off. The team of Fabregas, Song, Nasri, Clichy, Van Persie, Walcott and latterly Wilshere were well poised in 2011 having climbed to the top of the Premier League and just beaten Barcelona in the Champions League but defeat in the Carling Cup final against Birmingham proved devastating.

It precipitated an exodus and unrest from which the club took several seasons to recover. Spurs are also approaching a pivotal juncture with their own largely internally developed talent.

The challenges are similar. Should Kane or Alli start casting envious glances elsewhere – as was eventually the case with Van Persie and Fabregas – others will surely follow. Where Spurs have been more proactive is in quickly upgrading and extending contracts.

They have also maintained a feeling of momentum on the training ground that, while eventually dependent on silverware, has been a testament to Pochettino’s coaching. He specifically prefers a lean and versatile squad but that will be more vigorously tested next season, especially if Champions League participation is rather less fleeting.

“Every team has to understand what their ambitions are,” claimed Conte on Wednesday. “My question is this: What are Tottenham's expectations? If their ambitions are to fight for the title or win the Champions League, you must buy expensive players. Otherwise you continue to stay in your level. It's simple.”

Such a blunt analysis might ultimately be vindicated – as it was with Arsenal - but, in so seriously challenging to win another way, we should surely acknowledge Tottenham’s vast ambition.

 

[spursfan77]

We are building the best stadium in the country and have already built (probably) the best training ground. Nobody except jealous fans of other clubs could question it. That and manager's trying to score points with their own chairman.

 

[Danfunkel]

Same applies to Pep and Mourinho too. Try coaching your players boys, instead of spunking hundreds of millions on the worlds 'best'. Pressure might not be so much for you.

 

[Dougal]

We haven't really been challenging for the title for the last two seasons because we have been playing catch up, only breaking into the top 4 well into the season and for the most part remaining a decent jump behind the eventual winners. To start next season with not just a settled team but one who finished last season in incredible form, will possibly give us an advantage we've lacked in the previous 2 years. Instead of chasing we could possibly be up there from the beginning while everyone else is finding their feet. To then grow stronger as the season goes on, as we have been doing, well...

Had we gone out and bought the best young talent at the highest prices this summer it would be decided that we would need time to gel. But we have the best young talent on our books already. Don't make any apologies for being ahead of the game. I don't expect us to get to September without adding to it but I would much prefer to do things the way Liverpool did as I was growing up. They had the team and if they wanted to add to it they bought the odd addition and let them fight to deserve a place while the first team fought to keep theirs. I didn't think this was a possible scenario in the modern game, yet my team are attempting it and I love them for it.

 

[SUIYHA]

He is jealous because his team went an a ridiculous winning run and won the league with a huge points total and yet all anybody ever talked about was us.

 

[diamond lights]

Same applies to Pep and Mourinho too. Try coaching your players boys, instead of spunking hundreds of millions on the worlds 'best'. Pressure might not be so much for you.

Spot on. Surely a coach or manager's number one objective has to be to maximise the ability of the players at his disposal. If a club can't (and that applies to most) go out and throw money around to sign the already established stars then they make what they have better.
This is done through coaching, both physically and mentally to make the players better footballers and better people (this has been said by a lot of players under Poch).

What is more admirable...assembling the football equivalent of the Harlem Globetrotters and letting them get on with it or working, building, coaching and organising a young group to develop them into something special?

I know which I prefer.

 

[Shadydan]

Spot on. Surely a coach or manager's number one objective has to be to maximise the ability of the players at his disposal. If a club can't (and that applies to most) go out and throw money around to sign the already established stars then they make what they have better.
This is done through coaching, both physically and mentally to make the players better footballers and better people (this has been said by a lot of players under Poch).

What is more admirable...assembling the football equivalent of the Harlem Globetrotters and letting them get on with it or working, building, coaching and organising a young group to develop them into something special?

I know which I prefer.

Not when they have copious amounts of cash at their disposal, their remits are to win the league so they are always going to take advantage of the finances handed to them which makes sense. I mean if Jose is going to spend £75m on Lukaku, Pep isn't gonna be sitting there thinking that if I put some time in coaching Iheanacho maybe in 2 years time he'll get to a level where he'll be a very good Premiership striker...that's not going to happen.

 

[diamond lights]

Not when they have copious amounts of cash at their disposal, their remits are to win the league so they are always going to take advantage of the finances handed to them which makes sense. I mean if Jose is going to spend £75m on Lukaku, Pep isn't gonna be sitting there thinking that if I put some time in coaching Iheanacho maybe in 2 years time he'll get to a level where he'll be a very good Premiership striker...that's not going to happen.

You're correct but that applies to teams with 'copious amounts of cash' and that's fine but my point is that for the rest of us to be up there challenging through good coaching and clever purchases in my opinion is much more admirable.

It is a better reflection of the ability of the coach.

So for Conte to be having a go shows how well we're actually doing. I don't hear him discussing Newcastle not spending money as they're no threat to him.

 

[Ben1]

I understand what people are getting at when they criticise pep and Jose, but who wouldn't spend. There is no advantage to them to coaching and bringing through players. Why save 40 million that the chairman doesn't care whether you spend or not, if the risk potentially loses you the job. Results are needed right now and they constantly deliver.

 

[nicdic]

I understand what people are getting at when they criticise pep and Jose, but who wouldn't spend. There is no advantage to them to coaching and bringing through players. Why save 40 million that the chairman doesn't care whether you spend or not, if the risk potentially loses you the job. Results are needed right now and they constantly deliver.

The criticism is levelled at them being hailed as the best coaches, when they rely so heavily on spending big.

 

[Ben1]

The criticism is levelled at them being hailed as the best coaches, when they rely so heavily on spending big.

It's hard to argue with trophies when judging a managers success. However, the media lazily use the term coach (as many are officially first team coaches) and that's where the criticism is perhaps right. The words manager/coach seem to be interchangeable when in reality they are not.

 

[riggi]

Painfully don't care.

 

[Spurs72]

everyone is getting all bent out of shape over this, and I don't understand why. first of all, Conte was responding to a question being asked, rather than just deciding to have a pop at Tottenham. secondly, until we prove him wrong, there's absolutely NOTHING wrong with what he has said.

he's absolutely correct IMO. if we finish 5th and get knocked out of Europe early next season, it won't be seen as a disaster by anyone. we've got the Wembley excuse for a start, but can also claim poverty in relation to the big clubs, and make endless noises about how we're building for the future. for Chelsea, Arsenal, City, and United, even 3rd and an early KO in Europe would be a HUGE disaster, almost certainly costing those managers (Wenger excepted, possibly) their jobs. the pressure and expectation they are playing under is completely different to those that we are. we can't have it both ways. on one hand we're preaching patience for Poch, hoping some of our youngsters break through and develop, setting CL qualification as a realistic expectation etc, and on the other we're getting upset about others pointing out that this isn't a luxury afforded to them.

so yes, if the success of failure of your job is going to be judged by whether or not you win the league and Champions League, then yes not going into the transfer market while others around you are isn't really an option. I can't see how his comments translate to him being scared of us though. let's be honest, we finished 2nd, but we didn't get close enough at any point to challenge them last season at all. from his position, what exactly does he have to be scared of?

This is spot on.

 

[Teddy Klinsmann]

Poch responds to Conte comments:

"I like to show respect [to other clubs] but I expect the same from people who compete with us."

 

[Ionman34]

Poch responds to Conte comments:

"I like to show respect [to other clubs] but I expect the same from people who compete with us."

Did he really say that?

If so, that is just another example of his class, which will largely be ignored by the media because it doesn't generate a frenzy they can feed off.

 

[StartingPrice]

I don't really care what they say. I find it quite amusing, but also quite relaxing, that the team that has been the best over a two year average, that has had the best defence two years running, and whose players are young and improving, is being shoved under the radar yet again. We are, at best, fourth favourites to win the league. With the exception of a few outliers, we are situated between 8 -1 and 10 -1 to win the league. I couldn't care less and I'm not in the least bit put out, so I'm not saying this because I am angry, it is just genuinely how I feel, but...

Same applies to Pep and Mourinho too. Try coaching your players boys, instead of spunking hundreds of millions on the worlds 'best'. Pressure might not be so much for you.

...exactly. Maybe we should be asking what Conte's ambitions are? To go through his career showing that he can spend lots of money to buy a team that can win things - in this case, just being the latest in a long line of fairly good managers aiding a dodgy Ruskie in buying trophies? Does he really lack the ambition to built a team over years without being the wealthiest club around, showing himself to be a master coach and manager? Maybe he just lacks faith in his own abilities.

Good job we have a coach who actively enjoys bringing young players through, improving players and actually making a squad though nous and hard-work

 

[DCSPUR]

Poch is so classy: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football...-tells-antonio-conte-start-showing-tottenham/

 

[Khilari]

So ****e blinked first. Didn't think that'd happen. Like the farter who blames someone else in the lift, it seems he is disturbed by our lack of spending.

Incredible! Makes me feel pretty happy that he's felt the need to shout about this.

Game on.