Antonio’s verdict on OGC Nice: “I’m really happy with what I have seen”
Wed 21 December 2022, 22:06|
Tottenham Hotspur
Antonio Conte reeled off the positives after declaring himself “really satisfied” with Wednesday night’s friendly against OGC Nice.
Matt Doherty’s first-half strike was cancelled out by Antoine Mendy at the start of the second period, the action ending 1-1 as we ramped up our preparations for the return of the Premier League with a good test against another top European side in front of our fans at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Speaking to SPURSPLAY after the game, Antonio said: “Honestly, I’m really satisfied with the game because with the players that didn’t go to the World Cup and worked for three-and-a-half weeks… I think when we work, many players can take improvement.
“It was really important to work with Bissouma, with Japhet Tanganga and now I hope that his physical problem has finished, it was important for Lenglet, for Davinson Sanchez and also for the young players, for Gil, I think it was a good game, also Sarr, I liked him a lot with the way he got into the pitch.
“Matthew Doherty has recovered a good physical condition, it was important to work with him, for Emerson also. It was good and I’m really happy with what I have seen tonight. Deki is in a good physical condition, Harvey White played like a number nine, he is a young player that I think is really, really intelligent, he can play in any role and I think the young players also deserved to have a night like this, for the Academy of Tottenham. It was a positive night.”
After a couple of training ground games against Motherwell and Peterborough United Under-21s last week, Antonio confirmed that the game represented another step in the right direction, with all roads now leading to Brentford on Boxing Day in our first Premier League match back after the World Cup.
“I think it was really important to play and also to see our fans – a good number of fans for a friendly game was really positive for us, it means that our fans believe in us and they want to follow us also in a friendly game. It was a pleasure to play in front of them and it was for sure another step,” he said. “Now we know very well that there are players that finished the World Cup later, it’s normal that their physical condition is not 100 per cent. For this reason, it will be very important in these (next) days to make the right evaluation, because I have a group of players that I repeat are working from (the first week) with me and my staff and in this moment they are ready, then there are players that arrived in the last few days, they started to work later and I have to try to make the best evaluation for the starting XI and to pick the best for the game against Brentford. We know very well the difficulty to play away against them.”
