Antonio Conte admits he was disappointed some Tottenham Hotspur supporters during the defeat to Liverpool – and believes the Reds should be held up as an example for his team.
Mohamed Salah scored twice in the first half as Jurgen Klopp’s men held on to earn a 2-1 Premier League win in London on Sunday to move within seven points of the fourth-placed hosts with a game in hand.
Injury-hit Tottenham were jeered off by a number of their fans at half-time, but responded strongly after the break with Harry Kane’s 70th-minute strike setting up a nervy finale for the visitors.
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But Conte has pointed to the success of Liverpool under Klopp as to why the Tottenham fanbase should show more patience with their team.
“We have to show great respect to our fans because they pay for the tickets,” he said. “At the same time, if you ask me, if I was a bit disappointed (with the booing), yes.
“It’s important in every moment to be honest. I continue to repeat the same situation from the start of the season. We have just started a process and after one year we’ve made a lot of improvements. If someone thinks we are already ready to win (trophies), I need to be honest and say it will be really, really difficult.
“Liverpool are a good example. When you start a process you need time and patience. If people can understand that, everyone is okay. We are far from other teams who can win and their squads are stronger. Everybody wants to win – I’m the first person who wants to win – but give us time and patience. We will see at the end of the season what happens.”
Conte was adamant Tottenham had played well and refused to dwell on the first half that ultimately settled the outcome.
“Before I answer, Jurgen was happy?” he said. “Yeah, because it was important to know his opinion. Jurgen is a really good coach but at the end tonight we are talking about a defeat.
“About the performance, I need to be happy. The first half was a positive first half but the team was 2-0 down, that’s true. But in the first half, what we prepared to put pressure high, we conceded the second goal for this reason. Eric (Dier) was unlucky in this situation.”
Conte added: “But in the first half we had a chance with hitting the post. We played an open game because we wanted to try to create difficulty for Liverpool.
“In the dressing room (at half-time) I can tell you I didn’t tell them anything negative. I said we had to continue this way. We are 2-0 down but we have to continue to do what we prepared with the right intensity to move the ball more quickly and move the ball from one side to the other side. I know we can create difficulty for Liverpool.
“Then we scored, hit the crossbar and Alisson was the best player for Liverpool. We’re disappointed for the final result. It’s difficult to play without important players but we showed we can against Liverpool, a team in the last few years have dominated the Premier League and Champions League.”
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