Fri 05 November 2021, 17:50
Tottenham HotspurEvery second counts for Antonio Conte as he prepares the squad to face Everton in the Premier League at Goodison Park on Sunday (2pm).
Time is certainly of the essence for Antonio and his coaching team. Preparation time is minimal for Goodison Park after victory in his first game in charge on Thursday, a 3-2 success against Vitesse that puts us back in the running in Group G of the UEFA Europa Conference League.
It will be a recurring theme, as well, with 13 matches in 41 days once we resume after November’s international break. Indeed, if we’re successful in the quarter-final of the Carabao Cup against West Ham on 22 December, Antonio’s first clear week will be 17 January.
Speaking to Spurs TV after training on Friday, Antonio told us: “We played Thursday night, on Friday morning we watched a video with the positive and negative things that happened, and I know that the players can be a bit tired after the game but when you don’t have the time you have to try to exploit every second of the day.
“The most important thing is to have the will to work, the enthusiasm to do this with the players and for this reason, I ask for patience, because we need a bit of time. The Club have had a great vision to build an important stadium, a fantastic training ground and we need to build something important on the pitch. We need a bit of time, but we want to do it.”
As for Everton, Antonio and Toffees boss Rafa Benitez will have met in 2013/14, when Antonio was at Juventus and Rafa was at Napoli and again during Antonio’s time at Chelsea, when Rafa was at Newcastle.
He added: “We are talking about a really good team, a strong team, and a really good manager who has won a lot in his career. The atmosphere at Goodison Park is an important atmosphere and, for sure, we have to bring a strong game and we need to prepare in the right way. We have one day, but we’ll do our best.”
