Tottenham head coach Antonio Conte says he wanted new signings Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur to experience the intensity of English football after they came off the bench in Saturday’s FA Cup win over Brighton.
A Harry Kane brace helped Spurs to a 3-1 win over the Seagulls and booked their place in the fifth-round on an evening full of positives for Conte’s side.
Deadline-day signings from Juventus Kulusevki and Bentacur made their debuts in the second half, Cristian Romero and Heung-min Son returned from hamstring injuries with eye-catching displays and Emerson Royal made Spurs’ other goal with a deflected cross.
“It was important to breathe the atmosphere for the two new signings, Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur,” Conte said afterwards.
“It was important to come in and to understand the intensity of this league. [They are] two good players, two young players with talent. They can help us.
“Rodrigo, despite his age, only 24-years-old, has a lot of experience because he played 120 games for Juventus. Kulusevski, the same.
“I think they can help us. I’m pleased that I gave them the opportunity to come in and also breathe this fantastic atmosphere in our stadium. Our fans, the noise tonight was so intense that it was also very difficult to communicate with the players.
“When you come here from another league you need a bit of time to understand the intensity and understand that here the difficulty is very high. For me, tonight to give them the possibility to come in and play for 20-25 minutes was important for Kulusevski and Bentancur.
“Now start the second part of the season and I think with these two new signings we are more complete as a squad.”
Conte was pleased with his side’s intensity in front of a noisy home crowd and called on his players to maintain the level of performance, starting with Wednesday’s visit of Southampton in the Premier League.
“The players know very well that we want to play and bring high intensity during the game,” the head coach added.
“We want to try to do this in every game and for sure, especially in the first half, we brought an important intensity during the game. We want to try to play exciting football with and without the ball. And to try and involve our fans to be happy for what they’re seeing, what they’re watching.
“We have to continue in this way, to play with this intensity you need to have a good squad.
“Because when you play every three days, it’s important to also make rotation but also when you make rotation the quality has to stay at the same level otherwise you risk losing points. We have to pay great attention to this aspect.
“And for this reason, in Kulusevski and Bentancur, we added two players in roles that we needed. We needed to improve the quality and also the numerical aspect.”
Kane fired Spurs ahead with a curling finish and made it 3-1 moments after Yves Bissouma had pulled back a goal for the visitors on the hour.
“In the games that he didn’t score, I liked his performance,” Conte said of Kane.
“Harry is a player who’s scored a lot in the past as a number nine, but I think what we can appreciate – me and also the whole team – is his attitude and commitment for the team. I think this is the most important thing for us. Then for sure, to score two goals is important because he’s number nine, he’s used to scoring goals.
“I’m happy for him but I’m happy for the whole team. I’m happy for Son and Romero to come back into our team. It was important.
“Emerson needed this goal,” Conte added.
“I think his performance was really top tonight. He played very well. And it’s important for his confidence, important for him. Don’t forget that also Emerson is only 23 years old and to come here and play in another league is not simple.
“There are a lot of difficulties, but Emerson is a good player and knows very well that there’s space for improvement. To score a goal was important for the confidence, for himself and especially for the team.”
