Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte has been speaking to SpursPlay (via TottenhamHotspur.com) about the process of caring for his players who are returning from the World Cup.
Conte has been in management since 2006 – or 2005 if you count his stint as assistant manager at Siena – so it’s safe to say the 53-year-old knows a thing or two about handling his players. The Italian is renowned for his man-management skills, in fact, a skillset which will be extremely useful right now.
With the 2022 World Cup coming in the middle of the domestic season, there’s been plenty of disruption for clubs such as Tottenham, who saw 12 players (including Joe Rodon, on loan at Nice) head out to Qatar for the tournament.
For the players who didn’t make it to the World Cup for one reason or another, there have been extra training sessions at Hotspur Way and a couple of mid-season friendlies organised, to ensure everyone is sharp ahead of the season resuming on Boxing Day.
Tottenham take on French side Nice this evening, and ahead of the game, Conte has been discussing how he is managing the fitness levels of the players returning from the World Cup.
He said: “You know very well after an important tournament like this, the World Cup, it’s normal that the players come back in a different mood, in a different way. Hugo lost the final and, instead, Cuti won the final. For Harry, he missed a penalty, but I think he played a really good World Cup.
MORE SPURS STORIES
“For sure, they have to try and put to one side this experience. Every experience is very important in your life, but, at the same time, you have to know now that we have to start to think again about Tottenham and try to do our best.
“We are talking about important players for us, these are players who can make a difference.”
On how he handles this situation, Conte added: “In this type of situation, it’s important to speak with the players, to understand their mood, the way that the World Cup has affected them in a positive or negative way and to try to overcome together, these experiences.
“The coach has to be good to find the right balance, in both cases – if you played a great World Cup or if you played a World Cup and something happened that went wrong.”
Spurs Web Opinion
That sounds like a good approach from Conte, and I am sure he will be able to manage all the different moods in the camp effectively. It’s going to be a difficult time of adjustment for lots of clubs, so we just have to be quick off the mark and get our heads back in the game immediately to ensure the second half of the season is a positive one.
Keep up to date with all the latest Tottenham news and opinion by following SpursWeb’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.
