Tottenham boss Antonio Conte admits he ‘ under-evaluated the recovery after surgery’ and urges Spurs to ‘learn from mistakes’ against Milan in Champions League.
Fresh from his return to the United Kingdom, Antonio Conte has been addressing the media ahead of the second leg of the Champions League Round of 16 tie between Milan and Tottenham.
In his absence whilst recovering from emergency gallbladder surgery at the start of February, assistant coach Christian Stellini has been filling in, overseeing a mixed bag of domestic results.
Now with Conte back in the hot seat, the former Juventus and Inter coach is adamant that his side will learn from their mistakes and aim to turn things around against Milan on Wednesday.
“For sure, I under-evaluated the recovery after surgery. For my sense of responsibility I wanted to come back early but I under-evaluated the surgery and maybe I over-evaluated by body and myself,” Conte said at a press conference on Tuesday.
“But now I am well. I have recovered energy. I still have to recover weight but for the rest, I am ok. My feeling is good. I have a lot of energy. I will try to transfer my energy to my players because it’s an important game for us. They know this very well. I repeat – we want to create a fantastic atmosphere tomorrow and try to go to the next round.”
After consecutive 2-0 victories over West Ham and Chelsea in the Premier League, Spurs were knocked out of the FA Cup by lower-division Sheffield United, before losing 1-0 to struggling Wolves in their following fixture.
“It’s important to not look too much back. We have a very important game tomorrow. We have to be positive. We needed to learn from the negatives,” continued Conte.
“I hope that if we have another negative game the players learn because you can learn a lot from defeats. After wins you are happy but after defeats you can learn.
“The pressure, we live with this type of game. We live with it for these moments because when the pressure is going up it means your level is going up.”
Having replaced the unsuccessful Nuno Espirito Santo in November, 2021, Conte eventually guided Spurs to a top four finish last year at the hand of bitter rivals Arsenal in the closing stages of the season.
The 53-year-old was keen to remind everybody of his side’s gradual improvement in spite of their mixed fortunes in the league so far.
“Don’t forget that last season we were playing in the Conference League. This season we’re playing in the Champions League. We won our group and tomorrow we have the chance to beat Milan and go to the next round,” Conte noted.
“Don’t forget the past and we need to go step by step. If you ask me if I want to win the Champions League I would say yes, but then there is the reality. We have to go game by game.”
Conte has only been with the group since Sunday morning, but is happy to be back and help alleviate the pressure from his coaching and playing staff.
He also expressed his gratitude, especially towards his players, for stepping up and keeping their focus whilst he was recovering at home in Turin.
“Yesterday was positive,” Conte said adamantly. “I felt really good. It’s important for me to work with my players and the staff and prepare for the games.”
“From afar I tried to stay very close with my players using video. Being present is totally different and for this reason I have to say thanks to my whole staff. They did a really good job and for the players to stay for three weeks without the manager wasn’t easy.”
“I repeat that I have to stay with the players and breathe the atmosphere of the training ground.”
The immediate focus is, of course, righting their wrongs from the first meeting between Tottenham and Milan in February. Conte believes that the atmosphere in the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium will provide his team with an extra boost tomorrow evening.
“We want to go to the next round and for tomorrow I hope to feel an amazing atmosphere in our stadium. Our fans give us a major boost and we’re playing tomorrow against the team that won the league in Italy last season.”