National Team boss slams Antonio Conte usage of ‘wonderful’ Tottenham man

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Wales manager Rob Page has been quoted by the Independent as saying that he “hated” seeing Antonio Conte continually bench Tottenham defender Joe Rodon – who has since left Spurs to join French side Rennes on loan.

Rodon, 24, has left Spurs on loan after being an unused substitute in 24 of the 28 Premier League games Conte took charge of last term. He failed to make the matchday squad in the other two, while making sub appearances in two.

The Wales international managed just 10 appearances for Spurs, culminating in just 514 minutes of action. In fact, he played just as many times for Wales during the 2021-22 season – far exceeding the amount of minutes he got at Spurs.

At Rennes, he has started and finished seven of eight matches, already clocking up 630 minutes of action. He scored his first-ever goal in a 3-1 win against Brest. On Sunday, he helped keep a clean sheet in a 5-0 win over Auxerre.

While there have been a couple of indifferent performances, he is adapting nicely to French football. Wales boss Page gave his verdict, saying he “hated” Conte’s usage of Rodon – but described the Wales defender as a “wonderful talent”.

“I hated seeing Joe on the bench every week because he’s such a wonderful talent. I’ve worked with him for years with the U21’s and seen his potential. There’s better to come. Going out to play games now will help him achieve that.”

Wales boss Page ‘hated’ seeing Conte bench Tottenham defender Rodon

Rodon is in for an exciting season. Now fully adapting to French life and Ligue 1, the Wales international can concentrate on playing regularly, and having a World Cup with Wales to look forward to. Things are looking good.

As far as his long-term future looks, Rodon might still have a future at Tottenham. But as things stand, he would still struggle to get into the Spurs side, with Eric Dier one of the first names on the team sheet.

But a strong season with Rennes, and Rodon could be trusted more by Conte. If not, his season in France will surely encourage other clubs to take a look at the defender – and of course, if he impresses at the World Cup.