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Napoli coach Antonio Conte is hoping to win the Scudetto with a third different Serie A club, but insists he also ‘got the maximum possible’ out of Tottenham Hotspur, who have gone downhill since he left.
The tactician is running away at the top of the Serie A table with Napoli after winning nine of his last 10 competitive games, drawing the other 0-0 away to Juventus.
He won the title at Juventus three years in a row from 2012 to 2014, then at Inter in 2021, along with a Premier League at Chelsea in 2017.
It was pointed out to Conte that perhaps the only club where he struggled to deliver was at Tottenham Hotspur, though he assured that was a coup of its own sort.
“I realise there are expectations, but if you go where there are difficulties…” he told DAZN.
“I think Tottenham did incredibly well, because they were ninth when I arrived and we got into the Champions League. The two years after I left, which was for personal reasons, they did not qualify for the Champions League.
“I think I achieved a lot there too. If people ask me for miracles, then I can speed them up and get the best out of the squad, but that doesn’t necessarily mean we can win. I think I got the maximum possible out of that Tottenham side.”
Conte points out Tottenham struggles after his departure
The Italian tactician was on the Spurs bench from November 2021 to March 2023, overseeing 41 victories, 12 draws and 23 defeats.
They reached the Carabao Cup semi-final in 2021-22 and were knocked out of the Champions League Round of 16 by Milan in March 2023.
At the time, he caused controversy among the Tottenham fans by pointing out the history of the club did not warrant ambitions much higher than that.
Now Conte is at Napoli and they started the season with a shock 3-0 defeat at Verona, but have not looked back since.
“For Napoli to win the title would be incredible, because we gave ourselves a three-year window. Napoli won two years ago, but Milan won three years ago and Juventus four. The difference is that those teams finished in the top four afterwards and we finished 10th, losing many players,” he continued.
“Miracles can happen, we can speed up the process, but the process still needs to be gone through.
“If we were to achieve our target of Europe, that would already be something special, so we’ve got to stay humble.”