Tottenham’s time under Antonio Conte was an eventful one, to say the least.
The fiery Italian took charge of the Lilywhites in November 2021, with Spurs languishing in ninth after a poor run of results under Nuno-Espirito Santo.
Conte would soon transform Tottenham’s fortunes and secure an unlikely fourth-place finish come May, beating north London rivals Arsenal to the final Champions League spot.
Despite Conte claiming he worked ‘miracles’ at Spurs, Tottenham’s Italian dream would fall apart the following season.
The 55-year-old would receive the sack in March 2023 after publicly criticising both Daniel Levy and Spurs as a club, with Conte since revealing he doesn’t ‘regret’ how he left Tottenham.
Someone who witnessed Conte’s fall from grace as Spurs boss first-hand, is his former number one Hugo Lloris.
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What did Hugo Lloris say about Antonio Conte?
Now plying his trade in the MLS with LA FC, the Frenchman has recently reflected on his time at Spurs following his departure in 2023.
Lloris, who has been critical of Tottenham’s handling of the Champions League final, has also honed in on his time playing under Conte – insisting things got ‘very complicated’.
In an interview with The Guardian, the World Cup winner said:
“I found Antonio Conte to be quite a character, driven by victory, which gave him energy, but he found it very hard to control his frustration when we started drawing, let alone losing, because his inner torment had to get out; and if he was tormented, then everyone had to share that torment too, and things could get very complicated very fast.
“He told me once that in any given week, his happiness lasted an hour, just after winning, and that was it. In training, he oversaw everything, organising tactical sessions with 10 outfield players against one goalie; but it was hard for the creative players to find their places in his restrictive game-play.
“The rigidity of the structure and set sequences did us a lot of good at first but, after a few months, teams learned how to play against us and it became tougher to win.”
Conte was a huge fan of Lloris at Spurs
Lloris would turn 35 not long after Conte’s appointment and many could have expected the Italian to slowly phase the Frenchman out of the Tottenham starting line up.
Despite having Atalanta loanee Pierluigi Gollini in his ranks, Conte would ultimately choose to stick with the Spurs skipper in goal.
The former Chelsea boss wasn’t famed for making good bonds with players while at Tottenham – with Djed Spence revealing he had no relationship with Conte – but the now Napoli boss always seemed to have a strong alliance with Lloris.
Speaking after the 2022 World Cup final, Conte sang the praises of Lloris when comparing the French keeper with Emiliano Martinez – via the Daily Mail.
‘I think we lose time if we talk about Hugo because his career speaks for itself. We are talking about one of the best keepers in the world in the past 10 years,’
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