Cristian’s verdict on West Ham: “Everything was perfect”
Sun 19 February 2023, 20:55|
Tottenham Hotspur
Cristian Stellini said the team’s plan came together perfectly as we beat West Ham 2-0 to move into the top four of the Premier League on Sunday evening.
After a tough first half of few chances, we stepped up a gear after the break. Richarlison and Harry Kane had sights of goal before a memorable opener on 56 minutes, started by Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s defence-splitting pass into Ben Davies, who in turn rolled into Emerson Royal to calmly finish in front of the South Stand.
Heung-Min Son came off the bench for Richarlison on 68 minutes and, typically, had his say four minutes later. Harry Kane held off Angelo Ogbonna and sent Sonny clear, the South Korean did the rest, slotting past Lukasz Fabianski for the final 2-0 scoreline.
Speaking to SPURSPLAY, Antonio Conte’s assistant Cristian told us: “It was really important, because we had to find again the pace of our performance. Today, we performed in an amazing way. We had a plan. We wanted to play and fight in the first half, and stretch them in the second half, affect the space.
“The players respected the type of game we had to play. We knew, because this type of team is strong physically, we wanted to use our strengths, our stamina in the second half to stretch them. I think everything was perfect. The players who came into the pitch created good behaviour, good pace in the game, and we won a great game.”
Cristian on... wing-back to wing-back
“To play wing-back to wing-back and to score is one of our targets, one of our requests for the team. Also, using the wing-backs to come inside and create the space for players like Deki and Sonny, to affect the space and play. Now we have to continue to be consistent in our performances because we’ve reached fourth place and, to stay, we know very well we have to perform like today.”
Cristian on... Emerson
“Emerson played an amazing game. It’s not the first time I’ve said it. Don’t forget at the start of the season, Emerson was amazing. He had some problems after the red card against Arsenal. Now he’s back, and we want him to perform like this, to be consistent like this, with all the team.”
Cristian on... Sonny
“It’s really difficult to drop Sonny or put him on the bench. It was the same for Perisic. But, in this type of game, we need players at 100 per cent. It’s a strange season, difficult after the World Cup, and there arrives a moment when you have to take care of them. It means sometimes to stay on the bench, then they come onto the pitch, change the game, score, do their best. We wait for Sonny to play from the first minute. I’m happy to work all the week with Sonny to bring him to 100 per cent again.”
Cristian on... Skippy
“Skippy was amazing, also in the last game with Pape Sarr. He repeated that performance. Now we can see again the Skippy we knew when we arrived here. After he has a big problem physically. Now he’s completely back. We’re happy for him because he’s a young player, and he needed this type of performance to continue to be consistent in this type of game, and we have many important games.”
