Antonio Conte leaves Tottenham with immediate effect, with ten matches remaining in the Premier League. The London club, currently fourth in the standings, made it known with a statement specifying that the agreement for the farewell to the coach was “consensual”. The team was entrusted to Conte’s assistant Christian Stellini until the end of the season. “”We still have 10 Premier League games left and we have to fight for a place in the Champions League,” Spurs chairman Daniel Levy said in a statement.
We must all remain united. Everyone must take a step forward to guarantee the best result.”
Antonio Conte’s farewell to Tottenham was thought to be probable at the end of the season, but what precipitated things and sanctioned a separation considered inevitable by many and has now taken place was the coach’s harsh outburst on 18 March after the draw for 3-3 of his with Southampton. On that occasion Conte had spoken of “eleven players who play for themselves. And the fans deserve much better than that”. “If you want to become a strong team that plays to win, you have to put the desire into it, you have to help your teammates, have fire in your eyes – he added – and show it at all times: I only see 11 players on the pitch who play for themselves From this point of view we are worse than last season: if we had had this fire inside we would not have come out of the FA Cup against a Championship team that made young players play. The club must take its responsibilities when the transfer market is wrong. But The players? In this club this attitude has already happened in the past with other coaches: it’s time for the players to take their responsibilities, otherwise there’s no point in talking about Europe and this season can only end very badly.”
Then Conte had denied that the uncertainty about his contract expiring at the end of the season could have affected his team’s performances. “They are excuses, all excuses – he said -: keep bringing up this topic and you will only give the players other alibis. But we are professionals, the club pays us a lot of money. And for me it is unacceptable that the players do not show a sense of belonging, desire to fight for the team, desire to work to improve, also from a mental point of view. For me all this is unacceptable because it is the first time in my career that it happens to me. My teams are usually very stable, but this one when it goes on the pitch she is frightened, convinced that everything can happen above all in the negative.It is time to tell the truth, to tell it like it is, to say that here at Tottenham they are not used to playing for something important, that they prefer to play without pressure “It’s happened before, but it’s unacceptable to me. And it must be the same for the fans. If we’re these, it’s useless to talk about the Champions League: we don’t have the spirit, we’re not a team. So we’re tenth.”
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