Steven Bergwijn has been linked with a move away from Tottenham in recent weeks, but Spurs are expecting the Dutchman to stay at the club, reports claim. Conte, when talking about Bergwijn after the match, admitted that the Covid-19 outbreak within the Spurs squad actually benefitted the Dutchman.
Antonio Conte said: “I think these two weeks that we had many players with Covid helped me and helped Steven Bergwijn to understand very well what I want from him and what I want from the other 11 players we had in training. Don’t forget, for many days we trained with only 11 or 12 players. On one hand, it was very difficult. On the other hand, we exploited this situation to improve the players. We prepared to play the games with these players. For sure, Steven should have played against Leicester, against Brighton, the games that were postponed. With him and also other players, we tried to exploit the period when we were only 11 or 12 players, to improve these players. Now Steven is a player totally involved into what I want, into what I ask from the players.Do not forget that I like to have a plan and I like to give options to my players. Every single player has to know what I want during the game offensively and defensively.”
Bergwijn will be hoping he did enough to convince Conte to hand him a start on Boxing Day as Spurs welcome Crystal Palace to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Even if the former PSV man does not start against the Eagles, there will likely be plenty of opportunities for him to be involved over the next few games, with Tottenham playing eight times between now and the end of next month.
