Antonio Conte has opened up on the busy fixture schedule Tottenham are having to face as they prepare for their first Champions League match of the season. Spurs have started well in the league, winning four and drawing two of their opening matches.
The first few weeks saw the Lilywhites play once a week and it meant Conte had plenty of time to work with his squad. As the World Cup break looms in November, Spurs are now going to have to get used to playing twice a week for the foreseeable future.
This means less preparation time and also less recovery time, increasing the risk of players missing out due to injuries. Last season it seemed that the Italian coped better with more time to prepare his squad, which seems reasonable enough, but he will not be afforded that luxury until after the World Cup.
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Tottenham's first Champions League fixture will see Marseille travel to N17. However, this comes just a few days after their 2-1 win against Fulham and only a few days ahead of their trip to the Etihad Stadium. This busy run of fixtures is something Conte is wary of.
"Honestly to see this schedule about Tottenham is incredible, It's crazy," he said, in his pre match press conference.
"We played three games in six days against Nottingham Forest, West Ham and Fulham, now we are playing after four days but we are starting to then play three important games against Marseille Champions League, City away, Sporting Lisbon away in six days. I think maybe first time in my career to see a schedule like this.
"Honestly I try to check the schedule of other teams and I have seen that in this situation Tottenham analysed a lot, our club our team. I think in the future in this situation we were unlucky. I think in the future also I spoke with club that we have to pay great attention to speak also with Premier League because we have to pay attention when there are this type of schedule."
The Italian went on to speak about what an extra day here or there could do for clubs. "One day more, one day less can change totally your life as you can drop points and I think this is not good for team like Tottenham. When you want to start to think as a winner you have to take care of the details," he admitted.
"The schedule details is very important for every club, especially for club who want to fight for something important. I think we can do much better for the future."
These Champions League fixtures are in amongst the Premier League ones and it has caused questions among many managers in the top flight. Another controversial topic is VAR, with Manchester United, Chelsea and Newcastle all having questionable decisions made in their games over the last week.
The Italian was asked on Tuesday how worried he was at what he saw in the latter two matches at the weekend. "You know what I said in the past about the VAR," he stated.
"I think to go again is not right but I can tell you only that my hope that they go to improve and try to find the right line of the decision. Because in this moment the line is not the same line and the same vision and this is really dangerous.
"This is really dangerous because in this way you risk to give advantage to some teams and penalise other teams. I think the VAR has to be something to help the referees, not to help the referees to make mistakes. Otherwise it is nonsense to have VAR and to use VAR in this way."
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