Conte sets out Tottenham philosophy and ambition in first interview as boss

Antonio Conte has declared he wants to bring a passionate and attractive brand of football to Tottenham after his unveiling as the club's new manager.

The Italian coach, 52, has taken over the reins in north London on an initial 18-month contract following Nuno Espirito Santo's sacking on Monday.

Conte turned down an approach from Daniel Levy in the summer as he admitted he was not ready to jump straight into a new role so soon after leaving Inter Milan.

But he could not resist Levy's advances a second time and discussed what he hopes to achieve in his first interview as Tottenham's new manager.

"To be Tottenham manager, it's a great pleasure, a great honour," Conte said in the interview posted on Spurs' Twitter account. "Now for sure I want to repay this trust.

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Antonio Conte wants his team to play with passion at Tottenham

"My coaching philosophy is very simple - to play good football, attractive football, with passion, for our fans. To have a stable team, not up and down.

"I think that the fans deserve to have a competitive team with a will to fight. We will do everything to deserve their support."

Conte arrives at Spurs with a huge reputation following successful stints with Juventus, Chelsea and Inter at club level.

But while he looks back on his previous jobs with a great sense of accomplishment, the task in hand at Tottenham is likely to be the biggest he has faced thus far.

"This is the past, I live in the present," he replied, when asked about his managerial successes. "In the last two years with Inter Milan we had the second best attack and the best defence.

"My past, what I did in my previous teams, the past is important and I'm proud.

"But for me the new challenge is Tottenham - I want that to become an important part of my managerial career."

Tottenham have not won a trophy since 2008 and have gradually been on the decline since Mauricio Pochettino's sacking two years ago.

Both Santo and Jose Mourinho have failed to galvanise the Spurs squad in the interim, but there is general feeling that Conte is the best man for the role - albeit at the second time of asking.

Conte has already taken charge of his first Tottenham training session ( Image:

Getty)

"There was a call from Tottenham in the summer but I was very clear, I had just finished two very tough seasons with Inter Milan and honestly it wasn't the right time to start again another experience," Conte said.

"I preferred to wait and enjoy the time with my family. Also emotionally I was still at the last experience with Inter."

All eyes will now be on Conte to deliver immediate results with a team who have underperformed so far this season and currently languish in ninth in the table, having won just half of their matches.

He starts his reign with the visit of Vitesse in the Europa Conference League on Thursday - a competition which will likely provide Tottenham's best chance of silverware in Conte's debut campaign.

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There are a number of items on his agenda to resolve - namely the future of star striker Harry Kane, who Conte has hailed as "one of the best in the world".

But whether Kane stays on beyond next summer or not, Conte is relishing the challenge of making Tottenham a force again.

He added: "Tottenham are an important club in England and in the world. The new stadium and training ground are wonderful.

"The club, Daniel Levy, wanted me strongly. I think this is a great opportunity and honour to become the manager.

"I saw the training ground and I wanted to get to work. In a top club, this type of situation pushes you and increases [your] desire to work and do something important for the fans of this club."