Antonio Conte sends Jose Mourinho brutal message and explains major Tottenham regret

Antonio Conte has opened up on his desire to manage Roma while speaking of his tumultuous relationship with Jose Mourinho and his mistake in taking over at Tottenham

Antonio Conte has acknowledged his desire to lead Roma and spoken of his many disagreements with Jose Mourinho, the club’s current manager.

After quitting his position at Tottenham after 18 months in north London, the Italian has been out of football for six months. Now that Rudi Garcia is under fire at the Serie A champions, the accomplished and incredibly successful coach is being mentioned as a possible replacement.

After helping Napoli win their first league championship in 32 years, Luciano Spalletti left the team at the conclusion of the previous campaign. Garcia took over as manager after him, but they have had a disappointing start to the season with just 14 points through their first eight league games and no victories in the Champions League.

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Former Italy national team coach Conte has previously won multiple Serie A titles as boss of Juventus and Inter, while his future appears to lie back in his home nation after spells with Chelsea and Tottenham in the Premier League. He has now spoken of his desire to return to Italy.

In an interview with the Rai TV program Belve, Conte remarked of Roma and Napoli, “Those are two clubs that I’d like to attempt for the enthusiasm fans have. Football Italia translated his comments. “I hope I’ll get the chance to have this experience one day.” Additionally, he stated that he would not accept a position in the middle of the season since “those situations have been created before I arrive”—a direct message to Spurs, where he was hired in November 2021.

Conte also discussed his frequent disagreements with Mourinho, the current manager of Roma, saying that the Portuguese once told him, “I’ll see you in my office.” When pressed for more information, the former Tottenham manager added: “I come from the

The Italian’s time in English football was marked by an ongoing dispute with Mourinho, which was fueled by Conte’s position as the Portuguese’s permanent replacement at Chelsea. Over the course of Conte’s two seasons in the Premier League, which coincided with Mourinho’s hiring at United, the two became personally hostile to one another.

Following in the footsteps of managers like Arsene Wenger, Rafael Benitez, Manuel Pellegrini, and Pep Guardiola, Conte was the most recent manager to get into a fight with Mourinho. After the Blues defeated the visitors 4-0 at Stamford Bridge in October 2016, Mourinho claimed Conte “humiliated” him and United with his wild celebrations.

The Portuguese approached Conte at the full-time whistle and engaged in a protracted handshake and verbal conversation that didn’t seem to be very friendly. “You don’t celebrate like that at 4-0, you can do it at 1-0, otherwise it’s humiliating for us,” Mourinho remarked following the match.

The next summer was when things really started to get hostile between them. With a clear reference to the Blues’ previous title defense, which saw them drop to mid-table under the Portuguese coach the following year, Conte said, “We want to avoid the Mourinho season.”

Although Mourinho refrained from expressing his fury, he did appear to throw a subtle jab at the Italian by mentioning his hairline. The fact that Conte’s hairline has miraculously grown back in the years after he stopped playing seems to have escaped Mourinho, who once declared, “I could answer in many different ways but I’m not going to lose my hair to speak about Antonio Conte.”

A few months later, Conte took exception at Mourinho’s declaration that he “would not cry over injuries” like other teams, further fanning the flames. In response, the former midfield player said, “I believe he needs to stop focusing on other people and start thinking about his team.

“I believe that Mourinho frequently [likes to focus on] what is going on at Chelsea. Often, including during the previous season. He ought to consider his group.”

By January, it seemed as though things had reached a breaking point when Mourinho implied that his competitors behaved like “clowns” on the touchline, without mentioning any names. This may have been taken as a jab at Conte’s agitated touchline demeanor.

Mourinho had declared: “It suggests that I lost my passion because I don’t act like a clown on the touchline. It’s lot more mature and better for my team and myself to act in this way, and I don’t think you have to act like a crazy guy on the touchline to be passionate about anything.”

Concern was raised when Conte responded to this by referring to Mourinho as having “demenza senile,” which translates to “senile dementia.” Chelsea was quick to clarify that this was a misspeak on Conte’s part and that he had meant to say “amnesia.”

In response, Mourinho would bring up the topic of “match-fixing” in reference to Conte’s tenure at his previous team, Siena, during the 2010–11 season. The Italian Football Federation had accused Conte of neglecting to report instances of match-fixing while he was at the club. Before moving to Stamford Bridge in 2016, the Italian had a four-month suspension from football after it was first reduced to ten months. He was later cleared of all allegations.