Tottenham Hotspur coach Antonio Conte has expressed his concern over the desire of his players or the possibility of their focus being distracted during the first half of the season due to the World Cup, which is taking place several months away.
Tottenham begins its Premier League campaign on Saturday against its guest Southampton, but there will be a period of rest during the next November and December, due to the holding of the World Cup in Qatar.
The British news agency “BA Media” reported that the date of the Qatar World Cup 2022 was moved to be held in the winter instead of its original date in the summer due to the high temperature in Qatar, but the former Italian coach is not afraid that the tournament will affect the focus of his players.
When asked if his players would protect themselves due to the fear of receiving injuries, Conte confirmed: “Frankly, I don’t care about that.”
He added: I was a player. When you go to play a game and you want to win it, you don’t think about the possibility of you getting injured or the risk of getting injured and not playing in the World Cup.
“Honestly, the players are very focused to go step by step and play each match at a time,” he added. For us, I repeat, we have 3 important cups in England, and after that we will play in an important tournament which is the Champions League.
“I know my players, their desire and their will, and what we have done to reach this achievement,” he added. Frankly, I’m not worried about this situation.
The English Premier League will stop after the end of the round, which will be held on November 12, and will not resume until “Boxing Day”, just a week after the end of the World Cup.
“All teams will have problems,” Conte said. The same problems will be faced by the clubs Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United, us, Arsenal, West Ham, Nottingham Forest, the last promoted teams in the English Premier League.
And he added: This will be the first time that this situation is faced, which witnesses the suspension of the league and the loss of players for a month and a half, and then we will resume the competition with players who do not know how they will return after the end of their participation in the World Cup.
“For this season, I think it is very important to have a strong team, to increase the number of players,” he added.
He stressed: “I think that every club should give the coach the opportunity to have an important number of players in the team, because of injuries, stress, a lot of situations, things will be difficult for each team and for the club this season.”