Antonio Conte has sent a sly dig to the Premier League after comparing English culture to Italian culture, as the Napoli manager believes Serie A icons ‘work harder’.
What Did Antonio Conte Say About Premier League vs Serie A?
When it comes to comparing the Premier League to the Serie A, there is not many people more qualified than Antonio Conte, with the 55-year-old winning league titles in both countries.
His most recent success came in his home nation, as Napoli won the league title last season and pipped Inter Milan to successive crowns by just one-point.
It was a former Premier League star that guided Napoli to the league title, as Scott McTominay won the player of the season award in his opening campaign in Italy.
The Scotsman has now attracted interest from multiple clubs and Napoli have taken a firm stance on any deal, declining a reported bid from Al Hilal.
Conte recently spoke about his admiration for McTominay, however, the Italian also revealed some interesting opinions on the Premier League and focused on work-rate in particular.
Conte said: “One time, the Chelsea captain, John Terry, came to me to ask to slow down the pace of training, to do fewer video sessions. I agreed, mainly out of respect to their culture, their different way of approaching football. When you’re in a different country, you have to be careful to not cause too much upset.
“Well, we lost two games in a row and I risked being sacked. Since then, I always think that if I have to ‘die’ as a result of the choices that have been made, I have to do it my way, and not in the hands of others.
“This is the way. ‘Trust the process’ as they say in England. And when I think back to how tough training was, I smile. Zidane and Del Piero trained much harder.
“Today, we do about a third of what we used to do. The work has to be linked to the results on the pitch. I’ve coached teams where after a little while, the players themselves began to identify dangerous situations. For me, that means that we’ve achieved the right result.”
The former Chelsea boss did not say it directly, but it appears that Conte believes Premier League players do not put in the same amount as effort as stars in Italy.
Where Has Conte Been Most Successful?
During his time in England, Antonio Conte managed two different clubs, taking the reins at Chelsea between July 2016 to July 2018 and returning to the country with Tottenham between November 2021 and March 2023.
The Italian enjoyed his most successful spell in England with Chelsea, winning the Premier League title in his opening season and the FA Cup the following year.
Conte managed Chelsea on 106 occasions, winning 70, drawing 15 and losing 21, but the iconic coach failed to win any silverware with Tottenham and was in charge for 76 matches (41W, 12D & 23L).
Now, looking into his time as a manager in Italy and this is where Conte is undoubtedly more successful, as he is the only manager to have won a Serie A title with three different teams.
Conte won his first Scudetto in 2012 as Juventus manager, where he went on to win three league titles overall, before taking the reins at Inter and winning the title in 2021.
As previously mentioned, Napoli won the Serie A title in 2025 and Conte became the first man to win Italy’s biggest prize with three separate clubs.
Napoli are one of the favorites to win the league title on Serie A betting sites and Conte will be hoping the bookmakers are accurate, as he would become only the third manager to win the Italian top-flight six times.
Conte has managed other teams in Italy since becoming a head coach in 2006, being the man in charge at Abrezzo, Bari, Atalanta and AC Siena.
