Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte says finishing in the top four would be like winning a trophy
Speaking after his side’s 5-0 win over Everton last night (h/t Daily Mail), Tottenham Hotspur boss Antonio Conte said that qualifying for the Champions League would be like winning a trophy this season.
The Italian oversaw an impressive home win over the Toffees that saw his team pick up a vital three points in their quest to finish in the top four of the Premier League table by the end of the season in order to play European football next term.
Conte said that his sole focus until the summer was making the best out of the 12 games that he has left to play, given that there were no more trophies to fight for in this campaign. Last week saw Spurs get knocked out of the FA Cup in the fifth round of the competition.
“We’ll try to do everything and at the end we’ll see what happens. Now we have only 12 games to play, not a trophy to play for. For this reason it’s right to take the responsibility, me, myself, I have to be the first.”
The win over Everton takes Tottenham to seventh place in the league table. However, they have two games in hand over West Ham United and Manchester United above them, and could very easily overtake them should they win both.
“Our Champions League”
The Lilywhites have been wildly inconsistent this term, alternating between winning and losing games across multiple competitions. Given this, it was encouraging to see them put in a commanding performance at home from beginning to the end against a poor Everton side.
Conte said in such a circumstance this season, reaching fourth place by the end of the campaign would be akin to winning the Champions League or Premier League. Hopefully, the win last night was a stepping stone to achieving that goal.
“You know I don’t like to speak about ambition and reaching a place in the Champions League because I like to play to win the league and win trophies, but in this situation this could be our Champions League, our Premier League title if we are able to reach fourth place.”
In what was Spurs’ first home game after nearly a whole month, they treated their home crowd to a fantastic performance, racing to a 3-0 lead by half-time. They did not take their foot off the gas in the second half either, scoring two more within 10 minutes of the restart.
After what seemed like ages, Tottenham finally followed up with two successive Premier League wins to find some momentum in the league. Last week saw Conte’s side complete a 4-0 rout at Elland Road against Leeds United.
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A top-four finish this season is not impossible, but the north London side will need to keep up a winning run in order to ensure that. With West Ham, Man United, and Arsenal also vying for the same goal by the summer, the journey ahead will be crucial.
Next weekend sees us take on the Red Devils in a vital match that could shape our hopes for finishing in fourth place. A win is essential to keep up our momentum and push United down the table to help our case in qualifying for the Champions League.
