“I’m not stupid” – Tottenham boss Antonio Conte backs decision to not play this star in North London Derby
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In a resounding defence of his selection to pass over Djed Spence and Matt Doherty, Antonio Conte has assured Tottenham fans that “I’m not stupid” and “I can teach football to many people.” Spence joined Spurs in July after leaving Middlesbrough, however, he has only played as a substitute once, for a relatively short period of time.
Following Saturday’s 3-1 loss to arch-rivals Arsenal, when Emerson Royal was sent for a clumsy challenge on Gabriel Martinelli, several Tottenham supporters demanded that the right-back be given a chance. However, Conte made it quite apparent that he is not amused by concerns being made regarding his tactics ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League match at Eintracht Frankfurt.
He said of Spence’s omission from the North London Derby: “The fans have to be fans. They can think anything, but I see every day the training sessions. If I don’t decide to pick a player, it’s because maybe he’s not ready.”
“We are talking about a young player with a good prospect, but I try to pick the best team. I’m not stupid, I don’t want to lose. I try to pick the best team. If they trust me it’s okay, if they don’t trust me then I’m the coach and I need to take the best decision for Tottenham.”
Tottenham Hotspur coach Antonio Conte criticized his players for not being ‘decisive’ when it mattered
The Spurs head coach said: “If we were able to exploit the situation, especially last passes, we would have been able to score many goals against Arsenal. Instead, we made really bad mistakes for the last passes because we had the opportunity to go one-to-one, but every team has to think and understand the way to play different games.
“Last season we won 3-0 [against Arsenal], and when you win, the opponent has to explain, but for me it’s important to have a plan, to put my players in the best possible situation to exploit their characteristics. Otherwise it can happen that you can concede six, seven or eight goals – in England, that happens a lot of times.”
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Sujeeth Shetty
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