Antonio Conte believes it is unfair to ask him whether Harry Kane is frustrated with Tottenham's progress.
The head coach says there are reasons to be encouraged by how Spurs are developing, and he does not consider himself the person that should face questions about England captain Kane.
Speaking ahead of Thursday's Premier League game against Manchester City, the club that had their eyes on Kane 18 months ago, Conte took issue when a reporter asked whether star striker Kane might be frustrated by a lack of investment and advances.
Tottenham sit fifth in the table, five points behind fourth-placed Newcastle United, needing a big second half of the season to stake a claim for Champions League football next term.
"When we organise the [press] conference with the club, you can ask," Conte said. "You can ask this question to the club. Keep these questions for the future and I hope for you that this does happen one day so that you can make this question to the club.
"It's not disrespectful to you, but I repeat we are always saying the same thing. Why do I always have to answer difficult questions and you try with this question or put me in difficulty with the club, with the environment?
"I hope you understand that I don't want to create problems because I always say that I like the way that we are working here, what we are doing, and stop, because in the past I think that I said a lot."
Kane is one short of matching Jimmy Greaves' goals record for Spurs, which stands at 266, and two away from reaching 200 goals in the Premier League. He is under contract until the end of next season.
Conte was also asked whether he might consider changing his formation or tactics. He has been favouring wing-backs and is not against switching to a different system, but the former Juventus boss believes the 3-4-3 shape is one that suits Tottenham the best for now.
"You have to know that when you put the best players on the pitch, you don't have on the bench the possibility to change the game," Conte said. "But in my career, I played with four [in defence] and I won two championships with 4-2-4.
"And then at Juventus, I started this way. At Chelsea, I started to play with the 4-2-3-1, 4-4-2, and then I changed it because the characteristic of the players was not so good to play with four at the back.
"And when I arrived last season at Tottenham, I found the solution for the characteristic of the players. In my opinion, that this is the best solution for the characteristic of the players but in the future, probably, we can try but if we lose I'll justify [it]."
Inzaghi expecting Arsenal reaction after Newcastle defeat
Inter boss Simone Inzaghi is expecting a difficult test against "one of the best teams in Europe" when Arsenal visit the San Siro in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Arsenal come into the encounter against the reigning Serie A champions on the back of a defeat to Newcastle United in the Premier League last weekend.
Mikel Arteta's side have now lost two of their last three league games, having tasted defeat just once in their 25 games in the top-flight (W21 D3) in 2024.
But Inzaghi, who helped Inter keep pace at the Serie A summit with a controversial 1-0 win over Venezia, is expecting a reaction from the Gunners.
"We are facing one of the best teams in Europe, very recognisable with a great coach," Inzaghi said.
"We all know how the big teams react after a defeat. Look at us after the derby... You find teams out for redress.
"I saw the match between Arsenal and Newcastle. Playing at Newcastle's home is not easy, but it was an open and fascinating match.
"We will find a team that lost two-and-a-half days ago, they will want to play a great game at San Siro."
Inter lost the Derby della Madonnina 2-1 to Milan in September, but have since gone on to win seven of their eight games in all competitions.
Inzaghi's side are just ahead of Arsenal in the Champions League table, with both teams picking up seven points from their opening three games.
The two sides have only met previously in the 2003-04 Champions League – both games were away wins (Arsenal 0-3 Inter, Inter 1-5 Arsenal).
While history favours the visiting side, Inzaghi has said his side will try to dominate possession against Arsenal in order to remain unbeaten in the competition.
"If you see Arsenal among 100 teams, without knowing the name, you recognise them. They played for the last two English titles, point for point with Manchester City," he said.
"We will have to try to keep the ball as much as possible, we know that we are facing a team that put on a lot of offensive pressure.
"We know that it will be a problem for us when they have the ball but the opposite is also true."
Arsenal have also struggled in recent games in the Champions League in Italy, failing to find the back of the net in their last four away games in the country.
Emmanuel Adebayor was the last Gunners player to score there in a 2-0 win over Milan in March 2008, and Inter will be confident of keeping it that way.
Although only five teams have faced more shots in the Champions League this season than Inter (53), they have kept three clean sheets so far.
Neymar suffers fresh injury blow
Neymar sustained a new injury as he was forced off during Al-Hilal's AFC Champions League Elite win over Esteghlal.
Aleksandar Mitrovic plundered a hat-trick on Monday to seal a 3-0 win.
But Al-Hilal's victory was soured by an injury to Neymar, who had to make way just 29 minutes after he came on as a second-half substitute.
The Brazilian, who has just returned from over a year out of action following a serious knee injury, was forced off with what appeared to be a thigh issue.
Indeed, Monday's appearance was only the 32-year-old's second for Al-Hilal since his comeback.
He has featured just seven times for the Saudi Pro League champions in all competitions since his big-money move from Paris Saint-Germain in 2023.
Postecoglou praises 'outstanding' Tottenham after Villa turnaround
Ange Postecoglou saluted an "outstanding effort" by Tottenham after they came from behind to beat Aston Villa 4-1.
Spurs scored four second-half goals as they got back to winning ways in the Premier League, following last weekend's 1-0 defeat at lowly Crystal Palace.
Postecoglou's side notched up an impressive 2-1 victory over Manchester City in the EFL Cup on Wednesday, but fell behind against Villa to Morgan Rogers' first-half effort.
Nevertheless, the hosts responded well after the break. Dominic Solanke scored twice, while Brennan Johnson and James Maddison were also on target in what was eventually a commanding victory.
And Postecoglou by the positive manner in which his players have responded to their setback at Selhurst Park.
"Seven days is a long time in football," he said. "Seven days ago, I was a grumpy old so and so. We have to stay true to the course we're on. We made sure not to feel sorry for ourselves and get back to the team we want to be.
"The first half was a bit of an arm wrestle. [Villa] have a consistent level of performance. We have other gears in us, which we showed in the second half. After the performance in midweek, I thought it was an outstanding effort.
"I felt the momentum was going our way, we knew we would finish strong and if we upped it a couple of gears like we can, we knew we would be hard to stop."
The head coach also paid tribute to Solanke, who became the first Spurs player to score at least four goals in his first eight Premier League appearances for the club since Rafael van der Vaart in 2010-11.
"The amount of work the guy did for us over the week - goals are great, but his capacity to do everything he can for the team in every area - I can't speak highly enough of him," Postecoglou added.
"We stuck with it," Solanke told Sky Sports. "A few times this season, we've gone a goal down. Against Palace, we didn't react in the right way, but today we did.
"We always believe we can score many goals. It all came together today in the second half. We had to adapt to the way they were playing. At half-time, we had time to regroup and discuss what we had to do.
"We've had some great games, but haven't managed to do it the whole season, but we think we're capable of it."
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