Antonio previews Brentford: “We are really excited to be back”
Sun 25 December 2022, 00:42|
Tottenham Hotspur
Antonio Conte has challenged his players to “restart the season in the best possible way” when we resume our Premier League campaign at Brentford on Boxing Day (12.30pm UK).
With the World Cup having taken centre stage over the last few weeks, some players haven’t played competitively since our 4-3 victory over Leeds United last time out on 12 November while others headed to Qatar to go into battle for their countries, with three in action as recently as last weekend as Cristian Romero, Hugo Lloris and Ivan Perisic picked up gold, silver and bronze medals respectively after taking part in the final and third place play-off.
Antonio says he expects “a difficult game” against the Bees as this unusual Premier League season kicks back into gear, but nevertheless wants the squad to make a winning return to action on a ground at which we were held to a goalless draw at the back end of last term.
“You know very well when you play, especially away, against Brentford, it is not an easy game,” the Head Coach told SPURSPLAY. “I remember from last season they are a really good team, physically they are really strong, they are very good on set-pieces, so it won’t be easy for this reason. It will be very important for my players, for me, for my staff, for the whole environment to go into the game quickly and to understand that we have to restart the season in the best possible way.
“We are really excited (to be back) – honestly, it’s not easy after the World Cup and only eight days when you played the final and semi-final to play so quickly, but it’s okay, it’s a positive on one hand. On another hand, you have the players who played the World Cup in a different physical condition, but it’s okay, football during the Christmas period for sure is fantastic to play, but at the same time, for many players we have to try to push them and to find a good physical condition.”
Antonio was asked whether he felt like the first league game back after the World Cup was akin to the start of a new season.
“For sure it is a fresh start like the first day of the season for the players who worked with us for weeks, but for the players who played at the World Cup it’s a big effort because they have never stopped and only now after one week, 10 days… I think that it is different for the players that played in the World Cup,” he said. “For the players who worked in these four weeks, for sure it is a new start, a fresh start like pre-season.”
Of course, the circumstances are even more unusual when you consider the fact that it’s Christmas! Training on Christmas Day is commonplace when there’s a game on Boxing Day, so will the players be able to celebrate?
Antonio explained: “It happened also last season – we played on 26 December and then also on the first day of the New Year. You know, it Italy, for us, Christmas is an important period to stay with the family and to enjoy this period with your family, to have a good dinner, to stay together, but we have to play and for this reason, on 25 December, we will have the training session, then have lunch with our relatives, then we have to go together to stay in the hotel because the game will be very early on December 26.”
