If this upsets his nemisis Jose Mourinho on Sunday then he won’t lose any sleep. The pair have been at war all season and feelings run so deep Conte went out on a limb to not even mention shaking hands.
He steel-eyed looked at those asking if he would and ruthlessly swept aside any questions on their relationship.
Mourinho brought up his match-fixing charges when in Italy and then called managers who dance, pranced, gesticulated down the touchline as being a ‘clown’.
Without mentioning names, Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp and Conte are known for the unashamed histrionics.
Conte kept calm during their shock defeat by Watford and the first call when he got home was from his dad Cosimo, accusing him of losing his anger and passion.
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Antonio Conte has looked reinvigorated since Chelsea’s defeat to Watford on February 5
They all claimed I looked like I wasn’t enjoying it
Even his wife and daughter were shocked.
“They all claimed I looked like I wasn’t enjoying it,” Conte added: “My wife and my daughter? They start to be worried when they don’t see me very active. Because that means I’m not happy. Yes.
“If I stood still they wouldn’t recognise me. A lot of time I start the game with this idea, no, to try and enjoy the game.
“To stay sitting down, to enjoy the game in this way. But it’s not the same. Not the same for me or my players.
“Especially for my players, and for the fans, and my father.
“My father watched the game against Watford and phoned me up and said: ‘I didn’t see you with the right anger, with the right passion. You finished the game with a voice, and that’s not for you, this.’ He told me that.
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Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho will face off at Old Trafford on Sunday
“Maybe in the future, when I become older, for sure I have to try and stay more calm and live more relaxed the game. But I think, also, this is my strength. To stay on the touchline and push my players, to push myself. This is the reason because, sometimes, I’ve won something in my wife.”
“Where does the fire come from? You have to know that my first owner, when I started to play little league football in Lecce, it was my father.
“He was the owner, the coach, the kitman, the groundsman… I spent my life from the start on the pitch, following the team of my father.
“For this reason, I have to thank him for this passion, for the passion I have for this sport. I started very young, very young.”
“He was vocal on the sidelines. I remember from my first bench, my first game, when I… also when I started as an assistant coach, because in my first season I was an assistant coach, I remember in some games I shouted more than the coach.
“A lot of times, at the end of the games, I had to say sorry. But this is my way to live the game. In the future, honestly, I hope to be more relaxed and to enjoy the game, to stay seated and to watch the game.”
Conte was all fire and brimstone watching them play Barcelona on Tuesday and hopes that will continue at Old Trafford.
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Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte are set to clash at Old Trafford
He went on: “It is not just big games, you must have passion in every game. In every game. If you play against Barcelona, or a lower team, it doesn’t matter.
“Honestly, I don’t think that my passion was less against Watford. For sure, it was a strange night for everyone. For everyone. But I don’t think my passion was less.
“My passion must always be the same, if we play against an important team or against another team who are less important.
“It does not worry me what other managers do, I never pay attention to them. No. No. In that moment, I’m alone.
“I don’t see what happens on the other bench, or what the other manager does. In that moment, I’m alone and there is the pitch, my players, the game… I don’t see what happens because my focus is only on the pitch. It’s great this, for me.
“To control the emotion is very difficult. Sometimes, when you score early, then you don’t celebrate a lot because you know there are 70 or 80 minutes still to play. If it’s near the end you understand that the win is very close, or if you score in the 90th or 91st minute, then it’s very difficult to control your emotions. I live the game with my players.
“I want my players to feel this, that I stay with them and am ready to suffer and enjoy with them.
“After the game, if we win, I think there is a great peace in myself. This is the moment that I find peace completely in my mind, in my body. I’m tired, but if we win, it’s the best moment for me.
“I enjoy that moment. I know that, probably, the time is two hours, three hours… especially if we play three days… to enjoy this moment, and then I have to start preparing another game. When we lose, it’s not a good moment for me. I prefer to stay silent. After the game, it’s not good to speak. Especially if you are angry, it’s dangerous. Dangerous. It’s important to calm yourself and take a day, two days to recover and then restart.”
Conte hopes Eden Hazard can continue his current form and keep them on course for an automatic Champions League place.
He went on: “Hazard was excellent. These types of game are the best for the top players, who want to show something especially in this type of game. Eden is performing well. He’s scoring.
“He can score more. He can improve, I think. He has the possibility to improve his level. To work very hard with the ball, without the ball, and help his team-mates. At this level, you need all the players to play with and without the ball, to work with the team.
“I think, at this point, it’s important for the coach to try to speak and try an unlock another level, to try and improve on the pitch, during the training sessions, to have the conversations for them to reach another level. But it’s very important to be yourself. It must be you who has this ambition, this will, to do this.”