Tottenham manager, Antonio Conte, has threatened to drop all 12 players that went to the World Cup for their short trip to West London to take on Brentford in the early Boxing Day kick-off (12:30.
Conte is concerned about differing levels of fitness within his squad. He believes those who stayed behind and weren’t involved in Qatar are currently a level above those who recently returned.
Richarlison and Rodrigo Bentancur picked up injuries at the tournament whilst those involved in the World Cup final – Cristian Romero and Hugo Lloris – were already ruled out. But Conte hinted the other players he had in Qatar may also not be deemed ready to play.
Not happy
“I am not really happy,” Conte said. “In one hand, you are happy because for my club, Tottenham, to have 12 players at the World Cup it means that we are in the right way to try to be competitive and to try to win something.
“But it is normal that when you have so many players play a tournament like this, especially during the season, that now it is not easy because the physical condition is not at the top.
“It is impossible to give them a lot of rest and for sure with the players that didn’t play the World Cup and we work for four weeks, now they are in a great physical condition.
“We worked a lot on the tactical aspect and physical aspect. Now they are at a level that is better than the players who finished the World Cup.
“For this reason I think I have to make the best decision for the game against Brentford. On one side I have players who I worked with for four weeks really well and on the other side, I have players who worked at the World Cup and are not at the top at the moment.”
