Antonio Conte is preparing his Tottenham side for their opening game of the season, which will see Southampton travel to N17. The Italian has had a good summer with Spurs, welcoming six new players to his squad and winning two, drawing one and losing one of the pre-season friendlies.
There is still more work that can be done both on and off the pitch but Conte seems to have high hopes for his side, which was seen in his pre-match press conference on Thursday, when asked about his side's chances of winning a domestic cup. "Why not Premier League and the Champions League? (Laughs) My target and the club's target is to improve," he explained.
"It's the process we started seven months ago. If you get a place in the Champions League it doesn't mean you've achieved your target. My experience brings me to say we're going in the right direction. At the same time, I know the club needed another step to be competitive with the top teams in Europe.
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"For this reason we have to not be presumptuous or arrogant. We have to work, work, work to improve on the pitch and outside of the pitch to become a top club," Conte added.
The 53-year-old speaks with a lot of positivity and if the impact Conte has already had on the Tottenham side continues, the north London club could be in for a successful season. This is something Gary Neville commented on, when speaking on the Overlap, in partnership with Sky Bet.
"I think Ivan Perisic [is a good signing]. I’ve got Tottenham Hotspur finishing third in my head. Because of Perisic, Yves Bissouma and Richarlison added into [the mix of] what they’ve already got," he explained. "They have already got Harry Kane, Heung-min Son who are world class.
"They have two world-class players up top, and they’ve now added to it with Perisic and Richarlison. I think Tottenham are the only club that could challenge, they won’t finish above Liverpool, but they could if somehow Liverpool wobble or get an injury to Virgil Van Dijk, then Tottenham could [challenge]. They are the only club who could potentially."
Last season Tottenham finished 21 points behind Liverpool and the gap between the top two and the rest of the league was clear to see. Spurs' continued work with Conte, their solid pre-season and new signings, are likely to help them compete more than they could during the last campaign.
However, Jamie Carragher has pointed out where their downfall could be, speaking also on the Overlap, in partnership with Sky Bet. "I’m a massive fan of Antonio Conte, and I think it’s brilliant to have him in the Premier League," he said.
"One thing I would say could stop Tottenham [from doing well] is if they do okay in Europe, because if you look at Conte’s record even when he was at Chelsea, when he had no Europe and he’s got them [the players] for the full week training and the way he trains, you know all the tough training, but I think his record if there’s a lot of games coming in Europe there’s a lot more difficulty," Carragher admitted.
This issue was seen on multiple occasions last season, when Spurs had more time between games, they saw better results. This won't be the case during the 2022/23 campaign, with the busy fixture schedule Conte is going to have to deal with.
The former Liverpool man is correct, Conte's track record in Europe isn't great. However as the Italian keeps reiterating, Tottenham will continue to work hard and with the quality and depth that they do have, will hopefully be able to find success in both the league and Europe.
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