#PLStories- Assistant Tottenham manager Christian Stellini on Conte texts and when he will return plus Son, Emerson and Skipp #THFC
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antonio conte happy
You’ve maintained your 100% record in charge, what did you make of that performance?
I am very glad to see this type of performance because we need and we deserve to play a game like this. It was an important game in an important moment because with a win we can reach again fourth place. It is important now to be consistent with this type of performance. We have a week to work again to recover and work to perform well in the next 20 days.
You said Son is not 100% in your interview with Sky, is that physical or with his confidence and what did you make of his response to being a substitute?
We know that Sonny’s response would be perfect because Sonny is a perfect guy. But after the World Cup, sometimes it happen that the player are not fit 100 per cent. In that moment you have to take a decision and it is difficult with a player like Sonny to drop them, but you have to do it because we have a lot of matches. The risk is you lose a player for a long time and we don’t want to do it. We want to use Sonny in the right way. Now we had Richarlison back 100 per cent fit and we pick the team to play this type of game. The plan was clear. We had to fight in the first half and when they stretch the team and we have more space, we can use players like Sonny and players to attack the space.
So is it a confidence or physical issue for Son?
No, the confidence is 100 per cent, it is physically that he need to recover. When he play five games in a row, sometimes you can feel tired and you can feel something not perfect. It is important for us that the player is mature enough to say this. It is important because you can’t manage the performance of 11 player. If you have 11 100 per cent, it is better to have seven and three that are not performing well but you need that they are mature and they speak with us. Sonny in this case was perfect during the week but now we have time to manage him to play the next step with six games in 14 days.
How did it work with Antonio? Did you make the subs?
Yeah today was a clear balance because Antonio is completely involved. Yesterday, the day before, he wants to listen and hear our feeling and our sensation. He gave us some advice during the match [through texts] and we ask to him sometimes, ‘we want to do this, we want to change this player,’ and he agree with us. He said sometimes wait and that’s it. We are in balance to decide and to listen what Antonio likes but he wants every time from me and Ryan that we say to him how we feel with the players, how we feel with the performance because the stadium is different to watching the game on the TV.
You’ve got a 100% record in charge, including three wins at Inter, will you be mentioning that to Antonio or Daniel Levy?
No, this happen because Antonio is the gaffer, not because I am the gaffer. I only follow the project of his work and the way he works is really clear. I follow this and I use my experience and I use lot of the staff because we work in a team and we work very well. I am very happy to work with all of them, especially Ryan [Mason] because he helped me a lot.
That first goal came from a combination between the two wing-backs, what that something you talked about at half-time, for them to be more aggressive?
We talk about that the game would arrive. Our game we want to play was the game that we played in the second half but we know very well that we have to push in the first half to create the second half. That was the plan. When we feel that the opponent stretch the team and create space between the lines, we have to attack the space and that is what happened and the players understood that moment. Then Sonny came in and I think the second goal was a clear Sonny situation.
Do you expect to see Antonio back for the Chelsea game?
No, I am not expecting Antonio is back for Chelsea but I expect Antonio will be back the week after Chelsea. For Milan or Wolverhampton. We have also the game in the FA Cup so maybe not Chelsea but we don’t know, because if Antonio feels well and he can live some stress without some pain or feel something strange, Antonio will be back.
What did you make of Emerson, it feels like his form has really shot up since the club were linked with and then signed Pedro Porro?
I don’t think it is linked with the signing of Pedro Porro but this type of performance from Emerson we had in the start of the season. The start of the season was one of the best performances. He played very well. After the three-match ban, after Arsenal, maybe he has lost his place but there was the World Cup that interrupted the season and this is a weird season for many teams and many players. It is important that the staff work to understand when is the moment to work, when is the moment to perform and when is the moment to recover. So it’s not an easy situation.
How impressed were you with Oliver Skipp, particularly after getting that early booking?
Skippy, when we arrive here, we discover this type of player. We have lost Skippy for a long time for a physical problem and we are sad for that but we had to wait for the right moment. He is a young player who needs confidence, needs to feel everything perfect around him. He needs to play. This type of player needs to play. We can give him all the love we can but the player needs to play and want to play to stay in confidence. When Skippy is confident, he is a young player with a great mind. It’s not because you’re young that you don’t have experience. Skippy is an intelligent player and for that it seems he’s more than his age.
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