Antonio Conte: Some Tottenham players have ‘collapsed’ when they feel too much pressure this season | Football News

Antonio Conte says some Spurs players need more mental stability and have collapsed when they feel “too much pressure” this season.

Spurs continue their Champions League campaign with a last 16 first leg tie at AC Milan on Tuesday against a backdrop of inconsistency in the Premier League.

Conte, who says he is still not 100 per cent after gall bladder surgery, watched his side beat champions Manchester City and then followed that up with a 4-1 thrashing at Leicester at the weekend, when a place in the Premier League’s top four was theirs. to take

Spurs have notoriously failed in big moments over the years and Conte says some players cannot survive under pressure.

“If you want to win or get some goals and have a good position in the Champions League or in England in the Premier League you have to be stable,” said the Italian, who had his gallbladder removed two weeks ago.

“And this stability is lacking this year. I always talk about it with the players. It’s very difficult to maintain concentration, it’s very difficult to stay focused all the time.

“It is not an easy task to be focused. We are working on it, playing under pressure all the time is good for some players and bad for others.

“Sometimes players feel motivated, other times they feel so much pressure that they can’t perform.

“Maybe for a while he has a good performance and then suddenly collapses if he feels too much pressure. We are working on this, we want to make our players more resilient.”

He added: “I think the pressure is different between Italy and England. In Italy you talk about football starting on Monday and finishing on Sunday. pressure.

“You’re born this way and you grow up this way, with this pressure, and you’re used to living with that kind of situation.

“In England, I think there is an atmosphere that makes it possible to enjoy football without pressure, because football is a sport and in Italy sometimes football is not just a sport, but a battle between the team and the fans.”

Spurs have had a difficult season with injuries with Dejan Kulusevski, Richarlison and Lucas Moura among those injured and in recent days, captain Hugo Lloris has been ruled out for up to two months, Yves Bissouma has had ankle surgery and Rodrigo Bentancur is facing time out. long due to an ACL injury.

And Conte says this has been part of his team’s turbulent season.

“There are also external factors like injuries to players that are very important for us,” he said. “And those injuries affect the team, affect the evolution of the growing league.

“You can be ready for everything, you can be a tactical man, a good strategy, a good line-up, you can have quality players, but if those quality players get injured, then you have to replace them.

“Every manager wants to have the best player available. Luck has abandoned us.”

Injuries to Bentancur and Bissouma and the suspension of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg mean Conte is without a central midfielder at the San Siro.

He said he did not have enough time to consider options to play Eric Dier in a more advanced role and effectively confirmed Oliver Skipp and Pape Matar Sarr would start.

“We have a solution in our house, with two young players, Skippy and Pape Sarr,” he said. “You know we are talking about two young players, the first match in the Champions League, they are young – 20 and 22 years old.

“Especially for this reason, we have to be good at helping them overcome their emotions, and then trust them.”

Conte returned to the pool for the hammer at the King Power Stadium and said it was important to get back with the team in difficult circumstances.

“Of course, it’s very difficult to stay away from the team,” he said. “Because you have a sense of responsibility that wants to stay every moment with your players, to breathe the environment in every situation.

“But this problem happened and now I feel better than before.

“I’m not 100 percent yet, but I think I’ve recovered well, it’s very important for me to stay with the team, work together and try to stay together in a difficult time for us.”

Milan boss Stefano Pioli considers his team to be equal to Spurs.

He said: “We believe we are equal to Tottenham. Winning the Champions League is a dream but there is no point in thinking about it now.

“A week ago, they beat Manchester City, but we didn’t come any better or worse than them. It will be a big game where we have to do well.”