Antonio Conte believes Chelsea have to follow Tottenham’s example to achieve long-term success.
Chelsea take on their London rivals at Wembley on Sunday and the Blues' coach is a huge admirer of counterpart Maurico Pochettino, and the squad he’s built since being appointed in 2014.
Tottenham are about to make their first signing of the summer in Davinson Sanchez, whereas Chelsea have bought four new players so far and are looking to add four more by the end of the month.
But Conte suggests Spurs are in a stronger position than the Blues because Pochettino has assembled the group of players he wants and Chelsea have seen a number of veteran players depart in recent years.
He said: “I think they are doing a great job in this year, Pochettino is doing a great job. He has built a great base, foundation for his club. We must do the same, we don’t have these bases.
“I have great respect for Tottenham, they are doing a great job. They are challenging for the title. I want to help my club to build the same solid foundation, we don’t have this. We need time to work, to improve.”
Conte has already admitted that this will be the toughest season of his career and it began with a defeat at home to Burnley on the opening day.
He added: “I thought this season would be difficult, we lost a lot of strong players that built a strong base. John Terry, Mikel John Obi, Branislav Ivanovic, and now we need to find the right way to build and it’s right to know we must have patience to build for the future. We have to work very hard.
In Pictures | Chelsea vs Burnley | 12/08/2017
“I knew very well this season would be very difficult for us. I am not surprised. Last season we won the League, reached the final of the FA Cup with only 13 regular players.
“We were lucky to not have injuries, this season we have lost two players (Eden Hazard, Pedro) now we have to try to continue to work with this basis.
“We are ready to fight to face this difficult situation, don’t find an excuse. My career has not been easy, this is my story and sometimes I have tried to find this type of situation. Never was the situation easy for me, I am ready to work and I like to work, I like this word, this verb. I use it a lot and through that we won the title.”
Tottenham are playing their first official ‘home’ game at Wembley on Sunday, a ground they have struggled to win at since beating Chelsea in the League Cup Final in 2008.
Spurs are playing their fixtures at Wembley while work on the new White Hart Lane is being completed this season.
When asked if Spurs' poor record and the fact it is their first game there gave Chelsea an advantage, he laughed and said: “I don’t think it is a great time to play them.”