Conte: "Arsenal backed Arteta and now they're doing a good job"

Antonio Conte

believes "time and patience" are essential for success in the Premier League, citing

's development under

Mikel Arteta

as evidence. After seven games this season, Arsenal is in first place after winning six of them.

On Saturday,

head coach Antonio Conte will lead his squad into battle against their north London rivals, the Arsenal, at the

Emirates Stadium

. Tottenham now sits just two spots and one point behind the Gunners following a fantastic start to their own season.

While holding a news conference on Thursday, Conte highlighted the rival clubs' patience in light of his prior comments about how long it would take to bring Tottenham up to their level. Despite Arsenal's recent struggles, he believes the club has always had Arteta's back. 

"I think the club backed Arteta in these years, and you are seeing that when you trust in a person, and Arsenal showed also in a tough period now with Arteta to back him in every moment," he said. "And now they are having good results."

"I think they're doing a good job. But in my opinion, it's always very, very important to go together with the manager and with the club. If you want to build something important, you have to go together to have a good relationship and I think the manager in every decision that is going to [be made] has to have a good explanation to the club why I want this [player] and not this player."

"It's right for the manager to show the vision that you have and then the club has to agree with them. I think to have a good relationship, a great link between the manager and the club, for sure you [will] have a much better future than the present."

There have been rumors that Conte could return to Juventus if Massimiliano Allegri leaves, which has led to speculation regarding his future at Spurs. The 53-year-old, though, has a job in London and would prefer to concentrate on it for the time being. 

"I know that we need to have time and a bit of patience to try to build a path to become seriously competitive with [Manchester] City, Liverpool, Chelsea, [Manchester] United and Arsenal,"

he said.

"For me, it's important to realise this and to understand that we need time and patience. I enjoy working with this club and it is very important to have a good relationship with the owner, with Fabio [Paratici], to stay in the same line, the same vision. Then I know very well that maybe in other clubs you have the possibility to have a path that's not so long."

Spurs spent £152.91 million during the summer window, which was the fourth highest in the Premier League after

Manchester United

,

, and West Ham. However, Conte insists that Tottenham must take a different approach than its competitors to compete.

"I hear sometimes that people [praise you for] two or three good results, but it's important to be honest, to know what the reality [is] and to be ready to fight, to be ready to work to try to improve the situation,"

he said.

"You know very well that you need time and patience to improve the squad slowly. And you have to know that other clubs can go into the transfer market and put [in] a lot of money and you have to do things with common sense and I think maybe it's the right way for a club like Tottenham."

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