Tottenham boss Antonio Conte admits he was unsure how he would’ve reacted if they’d been beaten by Bournemouth.
Spurs came from 2-0 down to win 3-2 at Dean Court on Saturday.
Conte said, “I don’t want to think which we would be my mood if we lose this game. I have to be honest, and also, after the first half, my feeling was positive. The only situation that I ask of my players is that we are to show more personality and take more responsibility because this game was on us.
“I think in the second half, despite conceding the second goal, we started to play nasty, with a will and desire to hurt the opponent. To not only move the ball and show ‘look, we are good and so nice’ but in an effective way. I think we created many chances to score and at the end, we won the game in a difficult stadium because Bournemouth is a really good team.
“It is not easy to play against them because when they play with these two strikers, it is very difficult to put pressure because every time you put pressure, they play a long ball. They had a good combination between the two strikers, but in the end, I think it was vital for us this win, especially after two losses in the Premier League, and now this win has given us enthusiasm and passion for going into Marseille and for playing a final. This game will be a final for us to go to the next round of the Champions League.
“But sometimes, it is difficult for me to understand why it happens in some situations, but I think that we started a path with this group of players. Maybe in three or four days, it will be one year that I will stay in Tottenham, and I will work with this group of players. For me, these guys are really, really good guys, really good players, but sometimes they lose confidence easily.
“I think we have to try to work and continue to work on this aspect because sometimes it is frustrating when you try. You work a lot and try to find a solution to hurt your opponent, and sometimes you see your team up and down, up and down. We have to try to find stability.
“I ask my players after the first half to take responsibility in their decision, and when I speak about responsibility to make the decision on the pitch, important decisions and not easy passes. For us, I think this is an important step that we had to do. We are working, we are in progress, we are work in progress, but at the same time, there is a lot of space for improvement, and we have to do this.”
