Inter Milan head coach Antonio Conte has performed a U-turn in admitting his admiration for Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp, having previously aimed a dig at him in February.
When defending his record at Chelsea, where he was sacked, Football London quote the Italian as saying: ‘At Chelsea, I won the Premier League in the first year and the FA Cup in the second year. Klopp hadn’t won anything yet in England after four years.’
Just eight months later, and the former Juventus manager is using that same stick of which he used to beat the German as a shield for his own back.
After a trophyless debut campaign at the San Siro, in which Inter came second in Serie A and also lost the Europa League final to Sevilla, questions are being asked of Conte.
In response to those verbal doubts, Goal quote the 51-year-old as saying: ‘We need to work hard. As an example I take Klopp’s Liverpool. It was four years without winning – now they are a war machine.’
It’s quite funny to see Conte adapt the narrative to suit the situation depending on how he’s performing in his role.
After Klopp guided Liverpool to Champions League and Premier League success, as well as bagging the UEFA Super Cup and Club World Cup, we doubt he’ll be too concerned by the Inter Milan coach’s words.
In Conte’s defence, he doesn’t need to justify his trophyless season last term.
His Inter Milan side were still fantastic, storming their way to 82 points in Serie A – just one point behind eventual winners Juventus.
Conte’s side were also very exciting to watch, despite his typically-defensive managerial style.
His strike duo of Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez netted 34 and 21 goals respectively, and with the pair still at the club, it feels like it’s just a matter of time until silverware is delivered.
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