CLARETS & WHINE
Antonio Conte denies he was close to quitting Tottenham after Burnley defeat and explains meltdown
ANTONIO CONTE denies nearly quitting Tottenham after Wednesday's loss at Burnley but warned: Don't invite me to dinner after defeat.
The Spurs boss hit out at his players and club and even questioned his own future after their fourth loss in five Premier League matches.
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The serial-winning Italian admitted he is a bad loser, adding: “For sure, when you lose a game, I’m not the person to have dinner with. You must understand I’m not the right person.
“When I lose a game my mood is very bad, I prefer to stay alone. I prefer to leave the defeat, stay alone and metabolise the defeat.
“I need one day to recover – at least.
“That’s me, I don’t like to lose. If you ask me what I hate most in life, it’s to lose games.
“My mentality is to prepare myself, to prepare my players, my team and to avoid this type of situation because I suffer.
“There are many coaches that don’t suffer.
"Sometimes I envy this person because I wanted to be a little soft but at the same time to be this way makes me the person I am and who in his career won before as a player and then as a coach.
“For sure when I lose, if you expect that I am happy or to come to a press conference and laugh, I am not this person.
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“I am sorry if I show my disappointment because maybe it would be good to keep this inside and not show my emotion.
“I am an honest person, it is difficult for me to lie or hide the truth and for this reason sometimes after a loss my mood is not top. Sorry for this but I am this.”
Conte’s comments after the 1-0 reverse suggested he was pondering his future.
But he was in a far happier and relaxed mood when he spoke with the media on Friday ahead of the Saturday lunchtime clash at Leeds.
And asked if he came close to quitting Spurs, he said: “No but I think my words were very, very clear.
'YOU HAVE TO REFRESH'
“I said that it is not normal in the last five games, to lose four games.
“When happened this type of situation, for sure you have to refresh, no? To think, to start to make an evaluation, why it happened and to try to find the solution, to try to find an answer.
“I think this is normal also because I am not used to losing in this way, when I was player, when I was coach.
“For sure, this type of situation hurts me a lot and I hope also my players and also the club.”
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