Tottenham Hotspur head coach Antonio Conte is worried about the 2022 World Cup finals in Qatar having an adverse impact on his players in the second half of the season, according to journalist Miguel Delaney in his Reading the Game newsletter in The Independent (12:04pm, October 14, 2022).
The well-known and well-respected journalist has reported that Tottenham head coach Conte and his staff think that the World Cup will ‘wreak havoc’ on club sides in the second half of the season due to the ‘physical and emotional intensity of the tournament’.
Delaney has reported that it is a big reason why Conte has been so defensive in his approach at Tottenham so far this season.
The World Cup in Qatar this year will kick off in November and end in December.
Antonio Conte worried about World Cup effect on Tottenham players
Delaney wrote: “If Tottenham Hotspur haven’t been that convincing this season, there may well be a reason beyond Antonio Conte going so surprisingly defensive.
“There is an increasing school of thought – informed by those who are in dialogue with the management team – that the Italian specifically has Spurs playing this way because of the World Cup.
“He and his staff have realised that the physical and emotional intensity of the tournament is going to wreak havoc on club sides in the second half of the season, and could make it all very unpredictable.
“As such, although he can’t control how his players are used in the World Cup, he can control their ‘physical load’ now.
“It would make sense, especially given how flat this Spurs can seem compared to previous Conte sides.”
Spurs are doing well
In our opinion, Tottenham Hotspur are doing well at the moment, both in the Premier League and in the UEFA Champions League.
Yes, Spurs are not playing great football and are defensive in their approach, but they are getting results.
And that is what matters at the end of the day.
Tottenham are third in the Premier League table at the moment with 20 points from nine matches, four points behind leaders and bitter North London rivals Arsenal.
Spurs are in UEFA Champions League Group D now with seven points from four matches, a point clear of second-placed Marseille.
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