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

Antonio Conte has discussed his ambition to manage Roma as well as his rocky relationship with Jose Mourinho and his error in assuming control of Tottenham in his recent interviews.

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 are off to a disappointing start with just 14 points from their first eight league games and no victories in the Champions League.

Former Italy national team coach Conte has won many Serie A championships while in charge of Juventus and Inter, but his future seems to be in his native country after stints in the Premier League with Chelsea and Tottenham.He has recently expressed a wish to go back to Italy.

According to remarks from Conte’s interview with Rai TV program Belve, “Those are two clubs that I’d like to try for the passion fans have,” he stated of Roma and Napoli. Football Italia translated the interview. “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.” In response to questions about specifics, the former Spurs manager said, “I come from the street, never forget it.”

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. The two became personally hostile during Conte’s two seasons in the Premier League because Mourinho’s hiring at United coincided with the Italian’s move to the Blues.

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 after the final whistle and engaged in a lengthy handshake and verbal conversation that did not seem to be especially amicable. After the game, Mourinho remarked, “You don’t celebrate like that at 4-0, you can do it at 1-0, otherwise it’s humiliating for us.”

The next summer was when tensions between the two truly ratcheted up. The Blues’ previous championship defense, which saw them drop to mid-table under Mourinho the following season, was specifically mentioned by Conte when he said, “we want to avoid the Mourinho season” at the club.

While Mourinho refrained from expressing his rage over this, he did attempt to make a subtle jab at the Italian by appearing to make reference to his hairline. Conte’s hairline has remarkably grown back in the years since he retired from playing, something that Mourinho did not seem to notice when he remarked, “I could answer in many different ways but I’m not going to lose my hair to speak about Antonio Conte.”

Is Conte or Mourinho the superior manager? 

A few months later, Mourinho reignited the conflict by declaring that his team “would not cry over injuries” like other teams, which Conte took to heart. He needs to start thinking about his squad and start focusing on himself, not others, the former midfielder retorted.

“I believe that Mourinho frequently [likes to focus on] what is occurring at Chelsea. Frequently, including last season. He needs to consider his group.

By January, the situation seemed to be at a breaking point when Mourinho implied that his opponents acted like “clowns” on the touchline without mentioning anyone in particular, which may have been taken as a jab at Conte’s agitated touchline demeanor.

Mourinho has stated: “I lost my passion because I don’t act like a clown on the sidelines. I think it’s not necessary to act like a wild guy on the sidelines to have that passion. I really prefer to act in this much more mature manner, which is better for both my team and myself.

Conte’s response to this raised some eyebrows when he referred to Mourinho as having “demenza senile,” which translates to “senile dementia.” Chelsea were quick to point out that Conte had made a linguistic error and had meant to say “amnesia.”

When Conte was charged by the Italian Football Federation with failing to report match-fixing during his time at Siena during the 2010–11 season, Mourinho’s answer would be to refer to “match-fixing” in regard to Conte’s time there. Prior to his transfer to Stamford Bridge in 2016, the Italian received a four-month suspension from football after initially receiving a 10-month suspension.

Conte retaliated by calling his opponent a “little man” once more. The confrontation continued after that, with Conte repeatedly labelling Mourinho a “fake” in a news conference before requesting that they be left alone in a room to settle their differences.

Mourinho made an effort to cool the situation off at this time in an effort to reduce confrontations. He said Conte was “acting like” a victim before urging him to be “man enough” to issue an apology. He said it was “over” after his United team defeated Stoke City 3-0 in a Premier League match in January, although he did squeak in two more barbs.