It’s fair to say that Antonio Conte isn’t the most popular manager in Tottenham Hotspur history.
Indeed, Conte alienated the fanbase on a number of occasions, and played quite drab football at times.
Conte and Daniel Levy had a difficult relationship during his time at Spurs, ending in that remarkable rant that earned the Italian the sack.
Conte found Tottenham to be a strange club, but, some of his players did love him.
Emerson Royal had a good relationship with Conte, while Heung-Min Son praised his manager during his time at the club.
Speaking to Rising Ballers, Ryan Sessegnon has now been discussing the Conte era at Spurs, and he says that he was actually hurt when Conte was sacked.
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Ryan Sessegnon was hurt by Antonio Conte sacking
The defender spoke about his time under Conte.
Sessegnon says that he actually loved Conte as a manager, and that he was gutted when he was sacked.
“Then Antonio Conte came in, he was intense, but in a good way, he was a very good coach. I loved him to be honest with you, a very good coach, honest, and he helped me a lot,” Sessegnon said.
“He made us run, but, tactically, one of the best coaches I’ve ever worked under.”
“How did you feel when he was sacked?” Sessegnon was asked.
“It hurt me a little bit, the relationship me and Conte had was good. But they made their decision to get rid of him, and we just had to get on with it I guess.
Ryan Sessegnon’s record under Antonio Conte
Sessegnon wasn’t happy when Conte left Tottenham, and it’s easy to understand why.
Indeed, while we never got to see the best of Sessegnon at Spurs, Conte got the closest to helping the defender reach his potential.
Sessegnon played more games under Conte than any other Tottenham manager, and he performed admirably in his back five system.
| Ryan Sessegnon record under Mauricio Pochettino | Ryan Sessegnon record under Jose Mourinho | Ryan Sessegnon record under Nuno Espirito Santo | Ryan Sessegnon record under Antonio Conte | Ryan Sessegnon record under Ange Postecoglou | |
| Games | 2 | 10 | 2 | 42 | 1 |
| Goals | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Assists | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
Conte praised Sessegnon during his time as Tottenham manager, and he actually gave the Englishman a number of chances in his team.
Unfortunately, injuries affected Sessegnon’s time at Spurs, and he was ultimately released by the club last summer.
Sessegnon has since signed for Fulham, but, once again, injury problems have hampered his development and he has barely played for the Cottagers this season.
Who knows? Perhaps Sessegnon’s best bet would be to follow in the footsteps of Scott McTominay and Billy Gilmour by swapping the Premier League for Serie A and re-joining Conte at Napoli.