Antonio Conte returned home on Monday night, still nursing some discomfort.
‘I’m not 100 per cent,’ the Italian said, speaking for the first time since surgery to remove his gallbladder.
On Tuesday night at the San Siro, his team must play through the pain against AC Milan. Lady luck has ripped out their beating heart.
On Monday morning, it was confirmed that Rodrigo Bentancur would miss the rest of the season following an injury to his knee.
Alongside him on the treatment table? Fellow midfielder Yves Bissouma (ankle), Ryan Sessegnon (hamstring) and captain Hugo Lloris (knee). Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg is suspended from this Champions League last-16 first leg.
Antonio Conte’s Tottenham are down to the bare bones as they take on AC Milan© Provided by Daily Mail
Tottenham were dealt a blow with Rodrigo Bentancur ruled out for the rest of the season© Provided by Daily Mail
It leaves Tottenham down to their bare bones. Conte and his players are under the weather, understaffed, with some players heading under the knife. But this is not the stage to start licking wounds.
‘Sometimes luck abandons you,’ Conte said. ‘It’s happening again but we need to react and be stronger.’
The manager added: ‘Three surgeries – me and two of the players, seven days and we had four serious injuries. For this reason to stay together is very important, to (approach) this situation with the right spirit and help each other much more than before.’
Easier said than done in places like this. In matches like this.
‘Playing under pressure all of the time is good for some players and bad for others,’ the manager said.
‘Sometimes players feel motivated other times feel so much under pressure that they can’t perform – maybe for a period they have a good performance and then they collapse all of a sudden if they feel too much pressure.
‘We are working on this, we want to make our players more resilient.’
The reality is, however, is that Spurs are left with only two available central midfielders here: Oliver Skipp (22) and Pape Matar Sarr, 20. They have started just one game together – at home against Portsmouth.
Oliver Skipp could have an important part to play with Tottenham short of midfield options© Provided by Daily Mail
‘Their first game in the Champions League, they are really young. Especially for this reason we have to be good to help them to overcome the emotion, to trust them. In the future we will see.
‘To stay for a long period with only three midfielders (Skipp, Sarr and Hojbjerg) to play the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup will be really difficult. We cannot have another injury.
‘Otherwise we are in trouble. We want to use this period to become stronger, to face this difficulty in the right way. Tomorrow for sure there will be moments when we have to suffer. But we have to suffer together and overcome this difficulty together.’
This has been a stage where, from the rubble, new Tottenham heroes have emerged.
It was here, in 2010 and with Spurs 4-0 down, that Gareth Bale announced himself with a remarkable hat-trick against Inter Milan.
Conte left Inter 18 months ago, having led them to the title. Here on Tuesday night, he was mobbed by journalists in search of selfies.
Tottenham face a tough task as they take on AC Milan in the Champions League last 16© Provided by Daily Mail
Last season the title changed hands, with Stefano Pioli’s side winning Serie A.
Recently, though, AC Milan have struggled. Victory over Torino on Friday was their first in eight matches and followed four consecutive defeats.
Spurs continue to be hit-and-miss, too. Conte missed their superb win over Manchester City following surgery, only to return to the touchline to see Tottenham crumble against Leicester on the weekend.
‘You want to stay in every moment with your players, to breathe the environment,’ he said. ‘I am feeling much better than before… it’s very important for me to stay with the team, work with them and try to stay together in a difficult moment for us.’
But he conceded: ‘If you want to be competitive, if you are aiming for something important you need stability. You need stability, you need consistency, you can’t have these ups and downs. I am trying to work on this.’
A tricky task even without such crippling injuries. Or such uncertainty over the manager’s future.
Conte stated that in Italy football is sometimes a war between the teams and the fans© Provided by Daily Mail
Conte has endured a year of personal tragedy – following the death of three close friends. He continues to be linked with a return home. And on Tuesday night, the Spurs boss outlined the contrasts between the two countries.
‘I think the pressure is different,’ he said.
‘In Italy you speak about football from Monday and then you finish on Sunday. You have a lot of TV that speaks football, putting a lot of pressure. You are born in this way and you grow in this way, with this pressure, and you are used to living with this type of situation,’ he said.
‘In England there is an atmosphere that brings to enjoy football without a lot of pressure. Football is a sport and in Italy sometimes football is not only a sport, it is a war between the teams and the fans.’
On Tuesday night, he leads Tottenham’s walking wounded back into battle. Back on home soil.
Source: msn
