Pundit finds ‘silver lining’ for Conte amidst postponed Tottenham fixtures

Kevin Phillips has suggested Antonio Conte will be able to use Tottenham’s recently-disjointed fixture schedule to his advantage by fully implementing his methods across to his players. 

Spurs recently confirmed a number of COVID-19 cases emerged at the club, with eight first-team players and five members of Conte’s coaching staff testing positive. 

The outbreak caused Spurs to close the first-team area of the club’s Hotspur Way training ground, but a number of available players returned for double-sessions led by the Italian coach on Sunday. 

A small backlog of fixtures has since been building up as a result, with the club’s Premier League trip to Brighton postponed last week, joining the weather-enforced rescheduled game against Burnley.

Tottenham’s next fixture comes on Thursday against Leicester with a depleted squad said to be preparing should the game go ahead.

Although the outbreak is set to cause Spurs a fixture headache down the line, former Premier League striker Phillips believes Conte will be able to find a ‘silver lining’ from the lack of matches by devoting his full tactical attention to the players available to him. 

He told Football Insider: “There’s a positive and negative side to the situation – obviously Spurs won’t want to miss football matches. 

“However, it will give Conte the opportunity to give the players plenty of his time on the training ground.

“Obviously there may be players missing from the sessions or the training ground might close down for a while, but Conte will have more time to get his points across ahead of this festive schedule.

“He can use that time to get the players in the classroom, getting his style, expectations, and philosophy across to them.

“Then when they return to playing, they’ll all be singing from the same hymn sheet. That could be a silver lining for Tottenham.”

Spurs Web Opinion 

This is a good point, despite the club’s current plans being thrown off course. Conte will have some players available to work with him and he can get across his methods to them properly with what is really an extended break. 

However, the main concern is obviously the mini fixture pile-up and the long-term condition of the affected players on their return. 

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