‘When you have a wall in front of you, you can ask and speak about what you want, but every decision was taken’
Tottenham Hotspur head coach Antonio Conte felt that Thursday’s Premier League meeting was a ‘waste of time’ with the welfare of players and the congested fixture list the two main points of discussion.
Several big-name players, including Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson, have been vocal on their concerns that the welfare of players is not being taken seriously – with some clubs likely to have played as many as nine games in the month of December.
He said: “I don’t think people can appreciate how intense it is until you actually see it first hand.
“Football to us is everything and we want to be able to perform at the highest level every time we set foot on the pitch. And unfortunately, in this period it is difficult to do that.
“That has been like this for a few years now and it has been difficult but then, on top of that, you chuck in Covid and it becomes even harder and even worse.
“I am concerned that nobody really takes player welfare seriously.”
And the Tottenham boss Conte agreed with Henderson’s views and felt that the meeting held didn’t help to improve the situation.
“I have to be honest I think that it was a meeting where we tried to speak, and some coaches tried to speak and ask about solutions,” he told Sky Sports.
“But I think that everything was decided. And I think yesterday was a wall, and for this reason also I don’t want to go into the discussion.
“When you have a wall in front of you, you can ask and speak about what you want, but every decision was taken.”
🗣 "We tried to speak and some coaches tried to speak but I think everything was decided, It was a wall."
Antonio Conte admits that the Premier League managers meeting was a waste of time pic.twitter.com/t7s8qEMN4o
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) December 24, 2021
Tottenham have been one of the clubs most affected by the recent increase in the rate of covid-19 infections and have had three games postponed as a result, but the Italian has confirmed that all players have returned bar Christian Romero and Ryan Sessengon, who are injury absentees.
Spurs will look to begin to follow up their midweek Carabao Cup victory on Boxing Day when they host Crystal Palace.
Related links:
- Jordan Henderson ‘concerned’ welfare of players isn’t taken seriously
- Tottenham’s game against Rennes will not be rescheduled
- Tottenham to ask Premier League to postpone Brighton clash after more COVID-19 cases
