Antonio Conte is holding his final press conference of 2022 on Friday afternoon as he discusses Tottenham's New Year's Day game against Aston Villa as well as the upcoming January transfer window.
Spurs got back to Premier League action after the World Cup with a 2-2 draw at Brentford on Boxing Day as they fought back from 2-0 down but only after making it nine games in a row in all competitions that Conte's team have conceded first in a match. Now fourth-placed Tottenham welcome Unai Emery's Villa side on Sunday looking to get back on form with the likes of Manchester United, Liverpool, Brighton and Chelsea closing in behind them.
Conte had hoped to have midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur back among his selection options after the Uruguayan's injury out in Qatar and he will provide the latest update on the player while the Spurs head coach also told football.london at the weekend that defender World Cup winner Cristian Romero was due to return to training last Sunday so he could also be back in contention to face Villa.
READ MORE:Franck Kessie, Tete and Antonio Conte's two Tottenham January transfer window priorities
There is also the small matter of the January transfer window with Conte and the Tottenham fans desperate for new faces to bolster the club's hopes in the second half of the season and the Spurs head coach will likely be pressed on the latest developments with regards to players heading in and out of the club ahead of the window opening on Sunday.
Our Tottenham reporter Alasdair Gold is among those putting the questions to Conte. Scroll down for his latest updates from the press conference at Hotspur Way.
Who should Spurs keep or sell this January? Have your say via our widget below!
Here's every word Antonio Conte said
We've got the full transcript with everything the Spurs boss said in his press conference which you can find by heading right here.
Conte on which players impressed him during the break
For sure, you're right. It was a great opportunity for me and my staff to work with the players, especially with the young players that didn't play in the World Cup.
To work with Pape Sarr, he played in the World Cup but then he came back two weeks before and worked with us. I think Pape Sarr is a really good prospect and I like the two weeks we worked after the World Cup with him.
It was the same for Gil and we exploited this time to work with Skippy again, because Skippy is another player that last season in my first two, three months he helped me and helped a lot the team.
Then he had an injury and he stopped work. It was good for me to work again with him and put him under a bit of pressure under the tactical aspect and physical aspect on his body and mind.
Also Harvey White was a good surprise because we are talking about a young player, but really, really clever, a player that I can ask him to play in every position and he is good to do it.
I think it was positive to exploit this time. Also it was good to bring Doherty in a good physical condition after a serious injury. It was the same for Japhet Tanganga, because don't forgot it was the same for him, he had a lot of problems with his knee. But during the Christmas period we worked with him and for this reason I gave him the opportunity to play because he deserved his chance.
We tried to exploit this period during the World Cup to know much better the young players and work more with them.
Conte on his centre-backs
You know very well last season we played with Dier, Cuti and Ben Davies, on the bench was usually Japhet and Sanchez and Joe Rodon. We sent Rodon to play and have more time this season and we made a substitution with Clement Lenglet.
I think all these players have to play and we work every day with all of these players. One player can be in good form and another maybe he needed a bit of rest to recover well, because mentally he is a bit tired or physically. But I trust in my players. We work with them every day to improve the situation.
Conte on Lenglet
Clement is really good player. We are talking a player who played five years in Barcelona. When you play so many years in this type of club, it means you are a great player. He needed to put himself into a new challenge and when I spoke with him this summer, I was very clear with him, if you come with us and you deserve to play, you will play. I said I think you are a really good player with a good personality. I can tell you it was a big, big surprise for me in a positive way for his attitude, for his commitment, for his behaviour. He is not 100 per cent in the training session, he is 120 per cent if he starts or if he doesn't start. We are talking about a really good player and our choice was really good.
(Whether he will ask the club to keep him beyond his loan)
I don't know the situation about his contract. I can make an evaluation from what I see in the training and on the pitch and I can give my opinion. Then it is down to the club.
Conte on whether he needs to keep Romero's feet on the ground
From what I saw in last few days in training session, I have seen him with great focus and great desire to come back and play for us. For sure I am really happy for him and it is important to have in our team two World Cup champions. But he has to know very well that now starts the more difficult period for him because expectation is going to become high for him. For this reason he has to work even more and continue to work.
The Spurs boss on that nine game in a row problem
For sure it's strange. A strange situation to concede the first goal and to go down nine games in a row is strange. It's good our reaction to level the result and many times we were good to win the game.
We need to be focused to start the game quickly and show more attention defensively, and not give the opponent more opportunities to score. We spoke to the players. Maybe when you have many games in a row you don't have the chance to work on the tactical aspect and the mental aspect, maybe you lose something.
Conte on the death of Pele
We are talking about one of the most important players in the world, in the story of football. I was lucky to know him. Honestly I'm really sad for this, for his death. He was a person who was a popular person in football, maybe the most popular in football. His behaviour, he was also a person who lived without arrogance and he showed always to be an humble person despite being with me, with Maradona, one of the best players in the world.
I take this press conference to send condolences to his family from me, the players and the club.
Conte on injury news
Romero is back and he's available for the game against Aston Villa. Rodrigo, I think we have to wait, maybe today he is going to have an MRI to try to have an evaluation about his injury. For sure tomorrow against Villa, he's not available. He had an injury in the World Cup and also the timing is more long than my expectation. This question is more for the medical department than me.
Dejan Kulusevski has been speaking
The Swede has been speaking about his first year at Tottenham Hotspur and his fears about joining the club as well as his relationship with Conte. You can read that right here.
The January transfer window is coming
For the latest on Tottenham's plans and Conte's transfer priorities for his squad and some of the players Fabio Paratici is keeping a close eye on, head right here for Alasdair's deep dive into it all.
Welcome to Hotspur Way
Antonio Conte will shortly be holding his final press conference of 2022 as Spurs prepare to face Aston Villa at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
