Conte: One Tottenham thing ‘drove me mad’, Chelsea ‘underdogs’ in 2017 title win | OneFootball

During his interview with The Athletic, Antonio Conte looked back to his time at Tottenham and Chelsea, insisting he won the 2016-17 Premier League title with the Blues ‘as underdogs’ and revealing the one thing at Spurs that drove him ‘mad.’

Conte reflected on his time in England as the coach of Chelsea and Arsenal during an interview with The Athletic.

The Italian tactician, who left Napoli after two years at the Stadio Maradona last summer, had coached Chelsea from 2016 to 2018 and Tottenham from 2021 to 2023.

NAPLES, ITALY – MAY 24: Antonio Conte SSC Napoli head coach greets his supporters after the Serie A match between SSC Napoli and Udinese Calcio at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on May 24, 2026 in Naples, Italy. (Photo by Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images)

He was the last coach to win the Premier League title at Chelsea in 2016-17. In the following campaign, his last at Stamford Bridge, he secured one more domestic title by winning the FA Cup.

“That was a Premier League title we won as underdogs,” Conte said.

“We hadn’t made any big signings. We signed (centre-back) David Luiz, (left-back Marcos) Alonso and (midfielder N’Golo) Kante — the club asked me 10 times if I was sure about him. He wasn’t the typical Chelsea player: tall and handsome. He was the sort of bloke who, when you saw him, was just… well, when I first saw him, I had a few doubts myself about his physicality (laughs), but I was so convinced he was a top player.”

LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 27: Antonio Conte, Manager of Chelsea claps the fans after the final whistle during the Premier League match between Chelsea and Burnley at Stamford Bridge on August 27, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Steve Bardens/Getty Images)

After his two-year spell at Chelsea, Conte coached Inter from 2019 to 2021, won the Scudetto in 2020-21 and then moved to Tottenham, replacing Nuno Espírito Santo in November 2021.

Tottenham qualified for the Champions League that season, but Spurs were never genuine title contenders during Conte’s reign, which ended in March 2023.

“The thing that drove me mad was hearing people around me saying,’ Tottenham are never going to win anything’. That they’re losers,” Conte said.

ENFIELD, ENGLAND – MARCH 07: Antonio Conte, Manager of Tottenham Hotspur, looks on during a Tottenham Hotspur training session ahead of their UEFA Champions League round of 16 match against AC Milan at Tottenham Hotspur Training Centre on March 07, 2023 in Enfield, England. (Photo by Alex Davidson/Getty Images)

“They [Tottenham] were made fun of. They’re still being made fun of. Even now. Arsenal lost 3-0 to Brighton and they were joking, ‘Arsenal have turned into Tottenham’, get it? Believe me, this irritated me a lot.

“I remember we weren’t winning or we’d drawn a game and I sent Daniel Levy a message,” he added.

“He came back to me: ‘Don’t worry, we’ll win the next one.’

“‘What the…?’ I kept saying to him, ‘Look!’

“I went to Tottenham with the ambition to turn things round a bit,” Conte concluded.

LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 21: Antonio Conte, Manager of Tottenham Hotspur congratulates Eric Dier of Tottenham Hotspur after victory in the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Leeds United at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on November 21, 2021 in London, England. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

“Partly because (managing director of football and former Juventus colleague Fabio) Paratici was there. When I arrived, they were ninth. We finished fourth, overtaking Arsenal.”

Conte also dropped hints about his future, revealing that he would be open to taking on a new role during the season “if it’s worth it.”