Antonio Conte unhappy with being Tottenham Hotspur’s only ‘face’ in front of media
Manager Antonio Conte is clearly unhappy at being Tottenham Hotspur’s only face in front of the media. This especially seems to be the case right now when things aren’t going smoothly.
When asked if the owners or chairman Daniel Levy should be speaking about the strategic planning and positioning of the club, Conte seemed to heavily agree with such a proposition.
He said on Tuesday (18 January) at his press conference sandwiched between the 2-0 loss to Arsenal at N17 and the clash against Manchester City [h/t the Guardian]:
“In England, there is a bad habit that there is only the coach to speak and to explain,” Conte said. I have never seen the medical department come here to explain why this player is having difficulty to recover.”
“I have never seen the club or sporting director come here to explain the strategy and vision of the club. In Italy, before every game there is a person from the club who has to go before the media and answer every question. For us, it could be really, really better.”
“Because otherwise, every time there is only one face to explain a situation which is better for the club to explain. If only the coach speaks there are sometimes misunderstandings. It would be good to have the club present in the media and to speak…”
Conte’s rant is understandable. But from the look of things – as a fan, especially – it seems that the former Inter Milan and Juventus manager wants those above him to face the music for some strategies which they may have adopted with regard to running the club.
Hopefully, it is not a sign of backroom disagreements between Conte and Levy. We need everyone on board and on the same page if the Italian tactician’s plans are to come to fruition at N17.
His frustration is understandable. Spurs were active in the transfer market in the summer but are yet to do anything meaningful in the January transfer window – which is surprising given our clear lack of world-class options in central defence, right-wing-back, and on the bench.
This has especially been the case with persistent injury issues to Richarlison and Dejan Kulusevski. Conte’s point make sense but it would be a surprise if club owners and chairmen will face the media in a similar manner that managers do – at least for now. An air of unreachability seems to surround them.
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If they do, however, we can have a much better level of accountability given how sometimes managers can’t comment on certain things that aren’t in their hands, or that they may have been told not to comment on.
