ENFIELD, ENGLAND – MARCH 07: Antonio Conte, Manager of Tottenham Hotspur, looks on during a Tottenham Hotspur training session ahead of their UEFA Champions League round of 16 match against AC Milan at Tottenham Hotspur Training Centre on March 07, 2023 in Enfield, England. (Photo by Alex Davidson/Getty Images)
Antonio Conte reveals the series of tragedies that prompted his return to Italy, but also when he realised Tottenham Hotspur wasn’t the club for him. ‘We were not used to celebrating Champions League qualification as it if was the Premier League title.’
The Napoli coach is fresh from winning another Serie A title with a third different club, having already achieved this with Juventus and Inter.
He also won the Premier League at Chelsea in 2017 and returned to England for Tottenham in November 2021.
It was an ill-fated experience that ended in March 2023 and he discussed it on Sky Sport Italia in the in-depth Buffa Talks interview.
“That was certainly a difficult year. I arrived at Tottenham in November with the team ninth in the table, in the first year we beat Arsenal to the Champions League spot. For Tottenham, you must understand, qualifying for the Champions League is practically the same as winning the Premier League title,” noted Conte.
“I remember at the end of the game with Norwich, there were celebrations in the dressing room. I called my staff over and told them, we’d better not get used to this sort of celebration, meaning we shouldn’t be celebrating Champions League qualification as if it was the Premier League title.
“We were accustomed to celebrating for very different things.”
Conte failed to end Tottenham losing streak
Tottenham were known for going decades without winning a major trophy, which is why Conte was brought in to break that streak.
However, a series of personal tragedies ruined the whole experience for the Italian coach, above all the sudden loss of his key assistant Giampiero Ventrone.
“I had signed a contract for a year-and-a-half, to see what situation I was getting into, but all sorts of things happened that year. Ventrone died from leukaemia that took him away in the space of 15 days. That was an incredible blow, emotionally and psychologically, because we had such a strong bond,” explained Conte.
“In the same period, Gianluca Vialli died. I’d seen him a month earlier, along with my wife at a restaurant. He seemed calm, but there was also the sense something was not right. Sinisa Mihajlovic died around then too.”
Conte pushed for return to Italy
So many deaths of friends and colleagues in his age group inevitably had an effect on Conte, especially as he had a health scare of his own.
“I started reconsidering my priorities. My family was in Italy, though my wife always made great efforts to come and stay with me as much as possible. I started to wonder how much it was really worth it, to sacrifice time with friends and family, when you could face tragedy or simply not be here, from one day to the next.
“It wasn’t a crisis, but it did make me change some of my priorities.”
Conte had surgery to get his gallbladder removed in February 2023 and defied doctor’s orders by going back to work at Tottenham too quickly, all of which fed into his decision to leave in March 2023.
“I had an emergency operation, because I risked developing pancreatitis. That year, all the things that happened, made me reflect on what priorities I should be focusing on. The passion for football made me overcome many difficulties, but we’ve got to realise at some point what we are truly prepared to sacrifice, right?”
