Ahead of Sunday afternoon’s Premier League home encounter against Aston Villa, Antonio Conte spoke of returning players and his hopes ahead of the new year in his pre-match media briefing at Hotspur Way.
Conte firstly addressed the issue of Spurs’ defensive issues by welcoming Cristian Romero back to the matchday squad following his triumphant World Cup campaign with Argentina, telling the club’s official website:
“[Romero’s] back in a good physical condition, also, the mental aspect. To win a World Cup gives you a lot of confidence, they celebrated a lot, and that was right because to win the World Cup is not simple, an incredible achievement for the players.
Now, I saw him really focused, I saw him with his mind back into our team, back into Tottenham, and he’s ready to play.”
Staying on the topic of centre-backs, Conte then spoke to the Evening Standard about Clement Lenglet and how he has been impressed by the on-loan Frenchman:
“Clement is a really good player, don’t forget that we are talking someone who played five years in Barcelona. When you play for many years in this type of club, with great history, great importance, it means that you are a good player,” said the Italian.
Conte then spoke about his visions for Spurs’ midfield options, starting with his wishes for a speedy recovery for Rodrigo Bentancur and the hope that Yves Bissouma can step up once again in the Uruguyuan’s absence, however long that may be:
“Rodrigo is going to have an MRI today (Friday) and fingers crossed, the MRI can give us a good answer. He is an important player for us, a player who has improved so much during my time at Tottenham.
“For this reason, we hope that he recovers well. But, at this moment, Bissouma has a great opportunity to show his capacity, and it’s important for him to play and take confidence.”
Conte then earmarked some praise for Oliver Skipp, Pape Matar Sarr, and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg:
“Behind him, Skippy and Pape Sarr, we are talking about two young players, really good prospects. Of course, Pierre is an important player for us.”
Conte finished off his press conference by rounding up his thoughts on the calendar year of 2022 for Tottenham, speaking of the importance of securing Champions League football at the end of last season and how his side must go again to beat off this season’s equally stern competition for a seat at Europe’s top table once more:
“It’s been a positive year, I think so, because it was a great achievement for us to finish in the top four in England, it’s is never, ever easy, especially last season, when we started the season so-so, then, we were able to overcome Arsenal with three games to go, that was really important, especially now as we’re playing Champions League, and we won our group. Now, this season, we have another big challenge.
“In this moment, United, Liverpool, Chelsea are not in the top four. This means that difficulty is coming, and the second part of the season will be a sporting war for all the clubs who want to try to finish in the top four or in the European (qualification) zones.”