Tottenham manager Antonio Conte spoke to the press on Sunday after his side twice came from behind to snatch a point at Chelsea.
Harry Kane’s late header ensured Spurs took a draw back to north London after goals from Kalidou Koulibaly and Reece James put the Blues 2-1 ahead either side of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s equaliser.
Conte himself was involved in a heated touchline battle with counterpart Thomas Tuchel which saw the pair given red cards at full time.
Here’s what the Spurs boss said in his post-match press conference.
What happened at full-time?
“I think that it’s not so important. It’s not so important. The most important thing is always football and to speak about the game. It was an intensive game. For us, this game was really tough but you know very well that to come here and to play Chelsea away is always difficult. They have a really good team.
“But at the same time if I have to compare last season and maybe six months ago, we played three games without playing because the superiority was really clear. Today I have to be honest, because today in this game Chelsea showed to be better than us. We can do better, but at the same time we scored twice.
“In the last three games, we didn’t score. We got a point and we showed in my opinion character and personality because my players wanted to stay in the game until the end, but for sure my players know very well what is my idea. We have to continue to work and improve because I think with the ball we could do better.”
Did the managers deserve red cards?
“Honestly, the referee showed me a red card but he didn’t understand the dynamic of what happened, but it’s OK, I have to accept, but I repeat this is not a big problem. It’s not important. The problem is between me and the other coach, not for the others.”
Was Tuchel right to complain about the referee?
“You know very well I never speak about the referee’s decisions. Never, never and I continue to do this. When I see the others have this type of behaviour, it makes me a bit angry but at the same time everyone tries to do what they want, you understand? I don’t want to comment on the referee but I never make a comment about the referee in England.”
The pointed celebrations
“I think the celebrations involved on both sides were really good celebrations, yes. The run, then the jump and you can understand about these celebrations because of the feeling about us and Chelsea for this game. I think this game is an important game for both clubs.
“For sure for me, it was important because to lose three games in a row against the same coach I don’t like. I hate to lose and you know very well I try to transfer my mentality and my passion into my players because you can be good tactically, technically but then you need good blood in your vein to fight for something important.
“I think we have started a process in this aspect and today I am happy because my players wanted to stay in the game despite the difficulty of the game.”
Does the formation switch show Spurs have a back-up plan?
“Yes, but we have to work. We have to work on this system because the second goal we conceded was because defensively we were very poor. Very poor. If we stayed with three centre-backs for sure we wouldn’t concede this goal. But this could be a good option for us because we have Richarlison and Harry. Sonny can also be a striker and we have wingers like Sonny, Deki. Also Ivan Perisic and Lucas Moura. And two midfielders.
“Yeah, we can switch sometimes to play in this new formation but for sure we need to work and have the same knowledge that we have in 3-4-2-1.”
Are the players showing your passion?
“Yeah, but you have to show every time passion because the result can be positive or negative but I think passion is very important. In every job that people do. You have to love your job, you have to love your work and show passion. If the people understand this and the fans see this it’s good, it’s good. And you can take big achievements if you have a big passion for your job.
“No, I think this is not important. It can happen when passion is high on both sides. The celebration was very clear, what this game means for the two clubs. Maybe also for the two managers.”