Antonio Conte jokes about the strain a year at Tottenham Hotspur has taken on him, but warns the Qatar World Cup in November was always going to be a ‘crazy’ idea.
The former Juventus, Chelsea, Inter and Italy tactician took over at Spurs a year ago and was reminded of this during today’s press conference ahead of the Premier League clash with Liverpool.
“Do I look older?” he asked with a smile of the assorted media.
Conte got more serious when talking about the upcoming break in domestic schedules to make way for the 2022 World Cup, which was moved to November and December due to the climate in Qatar.
That has seen all the Champions League, Premier League, Serie A and more fixtures compressed to create that gap.
As a former national team coach, Conte knows more than most the difficulties of both clubs and countries around major tournaments.
“We knew about this situation, we knew it was crazy to put a World Cup during the league and the Champions League. This type of schedule is crazy,” said Conte.
“Honestly, it’s really strange in England that we start to play three days after the final of the World Cup. We’re the only country to do it. Italy, France, Spain, Portugal and others are taking time to give rest and breathe a bit.
“I find it crazy that December 21, after three days from the final, we’re going to play a game in the Carabao Cup. After three more days you have to play in the Premier League.
“Many times I hear about the welfare of the players, but it’s only a polite way to show that you’re really interested in the welfare of the players, because they’re not really worried about the welfare of players if the schedule is this.
“In every moment you show that the most important thing is the show must go on and then please, I don’t want to hear in the future about people speaking about the welfare of the players, because this isn’t true.”
england scheduling is all about money – hence the 3 day match after world cu and even before this they play games closer to christmas and new yr
tottenham need many new players – especially on the subs bench, thr bench is really low quality