Antonio Conte continues to say the right things regarding his Spurs future

The marriage between Tottenham Hotspur and Antonio Conte hasn’t always felt like a particularly natural fit, especially considering the Italian’s tendency to leave managerial jobs in a huff when things don’t go his way or when he feels as though his values and that of his employers’ aren’t aligned. So you can understand why Tottenham fans still feel extremely antsy, especially since Conte’s initial 1.5 year contract at Spurs is set to expire at the end of the season, seemingly with no movement towards any sort of resolution.

That said, Conte has been very clear from the beginning of his tenure that he’s happy at Tottenham and that he’s very proud of the work he and his staff have done in North London. That sentiment continued today in new quotes released in Football.London — Conte continued to give assurances of his happiness in his current job and spoke a little bit about his playing career and how it impacts his coaching.

“I have a good passion for football. I like to stay very close to my players to share the emotions with them. I’m enjoying my time being the coach of such an important club in England, with the environment, with the players and with the fans.

“I show my passion also during the training session. A coach has to be totally involved. I like to see my players work. Mentally, you have to be strong, to be focused, to always be 100%. The nutrition is important. Food helps you to recover well, to have energy during the game, to have energy during the training session. I’m a coach that pays great attention to this detail.

“The game is so emotional because the fans push you until the end. In many games we are really good at coming back to win a difficult game. It means that the players believe in ourselves. We believe in the strength of the team.

“To get a place in the Champions League last season, that was a big, big achievement for us. The other aspect that I like a lot, we are building a solid foundation for the present and for the future. I’m really proud of the work that we are doing.”

I don’t think we’ll ever fully rid ourselves of that nagging doubt that one day we’ll wake up and Conte has disappeared in a puff of rage and pissed off back to Italy. And yet amidst all that constant background noise of frustration and worry, Conte just keeps saying the same thing over and over again — he’s happy, he likes his players, he’s in line with the club. These comments are just more of the same. It should make us feel good.

Maybe one day we’ll believe it (we’ll never fully believe it).