Antonio Conte thinks that there is far more to come from Steven Bergwijn, as per his comments to Tottenham Hotspur’s official website.
Improvement needed
Bergwijn was handed his very first start for Tottenham since Conte came in yesterday, and he snatched the opportunity with both hands.
The £27 million Dutchman scored the first and set up the second in Tottenham’s 2-1 win over West Ham.
His performance served as a reminder of the quality that he does posses, despite his limited game time in recent weeks.
But Conte suggested that he felt that Bergwijn still had room to improve.
“Steven played a good game. I think he can do much better,” he said. “He has good quality. He’s very good one v one, he’s fast and he has to give continuity and also to give me the possibility to be sure to count on him.
“Tonight he deserved his chance to play and he played a good game. He scored and made an assist. He was good, but I think he has the potential to improve and be better than tonight.”
Playing for his future
Conte’s comments just serve to highlight how high he is trying to set the standards at Tottenham.
He is correct too. For as good as Bergwijn was, it still felt like he had a few gears to go through before reaching the top of his potential.
In the early period of the game Bergwijn seemed a little tentative, but his confidence was clearly raised after he scored.
The 24-year-old actually took his goal brilliantly, as he held off Craig Dawson and exchanged passes with Pierre Emile Hojbjerg before tucking the ball home.
His work for Tottenham’s second was also impressive, after he burst past Manuel Lanzini and pulled the ball back for Lucas Moura to score.
The showing should at least earn him some more game time before the January transfer window.
Bergwijn has been linked with a move to Ajax recently, with the Athletic saying that Tottenham could allow him to leave on loan.
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