Tottenham assistant boss Cristian Stellini has explained what happened to Antonio Conte before he needed surgery to remove his gall bladder.
Conte fell ill on Sunday with severe abdominal pain while back home in Italy during a couple of days off after the FA Cup win at Preston. Following a diagnosis of cholecystitis, the Spurs head coach successfully underwent surgery to remove his gallbladder on Wednesday ahead of a period of recuperation.
Stellini admitted that while Conte began to feel unwell in Saturday's game at Preston, everyone thought it was something more standard.
"We thought it was more flu. We have had a lot of players with flu every week so we thought that but when he had scans to check what he was feeling they realised it was a bigger problem and they had to do what they did," he said.
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Conte has spoken publicly about this being a tough season for him with three close friends passing away and his family still living away from him in Italy. Stellini was asked whether this issue may have been stress-related.
"There is not a way of knowing. I don’t know if there is a relation between these things," he added: "We have to live the time we live, and we have to accept the situation. Maybe more Antonio has to accept the situation. It’s not easy for him not to be here with us but health is more important than everything."
It will be decided on Saturday whether Conte will be present at the following day's home match against Manchester City, in consultation with his surgeon. Either way, Stellini is likely to have to step up again with extra responsibility as he did in the dramatic Champions League victory in Marseille earlier in the season.
"We will [pick the team] together, because Antonio is not here to feel the training and everything so I will explain it to him and we will decide it together," he said.
"No, I don't think [he will need looking after]. When Antonio comes back, he will do what he normally does. It is important at the moment to recover and to come back when he is ready to do 100 per cent his job."
Stellini added that if Conte is not present for the Premier League match this weekend there will be no communication during the game and added that the coaching staff have not been live streaming training sessions, instead presenting them to him afterwards.
"Not during the training, he can watch the training after. We record the training so he can watch the training and analyse the training but only after," he said.
When asked what type of coach he is, Stellini said: "I am an assistant and I have a special relationship with the players because I am an assistant. So I can use that special relationship with them to force them to give their best.
"This is the kind of coach I can be for the next week and the next game. I cannot change myself because I am in charge. I am the same person who will try to push the players to give their best, but it is important to be the same person."
Stellini has an unbeaten record when stepping in for Conte, doing so for three matches during Inter's title run-in in the 2020/21 season when his compatriot was suspended. However, for the game against Marseille this season, Stellini admitted he had big help from another member of the coaching staff.
"It was a great experience and we want to live the same experience. I was not alone in that moment. I had Ryan Mason next to me and I have Ryan also with me now," he said. "He’s very important for the team, very important for me and he’s very important for the club so I’m not alone. I have all the staff with me. I remember after that game that Harry [Kane] spoke about how important the staff were and that some players felt more responsibility to speak among the team."
Stellini took issue with the suggestion that Spurs had lost their leader with Conte back in Italy.
"I don't know if this is correct that we don't have leaders. There are many types of leaders, not only one type. Yes, we know very well Antonio is a big leader but there is not only the leader who has a fire and transfers this to others," he explained. "There are many types of leaders and I think we have many types of leaders in our team. We only have to show this leadership and maybe someone needs time to be perfect in this.
"I think we can [create a siege mentality]. Also because a problem like Antonio in this moment and the fact Antonio is not here create more responsibility for everyone and that can create a mentality different from the past. The players can realise also they can be better in a difficult moment like this."
Spurs lost 4-2 at City last month after going in at half-time with a 2-0 lead and Stellini pointed out that the teams playing each other again so soon was beneficial to both of them.
"It is an advantage for both teams, it is not only for us. They are a big team, a big beast for everyone and we have to do our best to try to challenge them and to win the game. We will do our best for sure," he said.
"You have to be perfect if you want the possibility to win this type of game against this type of team. You have to be perfect in their box and in our box, so in this position of the pitch you decide the game and we have to be perfect in both."
It is going to be a new scenario for Stellini, having led training all week with Mason rather than simply stepping in on a matchday, but he has many experiences of big matches with Conte and season-defining fixtures.
"This is not a normal situation. I have never lived a situation like this so I don't have an example to explain... maybe in Inter Milan, we had many times games to change the season. There is normal games and games that can change the season," he said.
"In Inter Milan, I remember when we had the possibility to progress against Barcelona one year, against Shaktar the next year, we did not reach the target but we had another game, very important, against Juventus and we won this game and everything changed. We fight every time to reach that target and a big game can create this.
"We had examples in the past and we had examples last season. There was a moment where things changed and we realised now we can reach the target. This could be a moment. We do our best to reach this target and to try to change the season.
"We analyse every team deeply so if you take a look at only the result, you have an answer but if you go deeply like we did because it is our job, you can feel how every time they are a big test.
"Maybe the result is not every time what you expect but they are Manchester City and no different from the past. When a big beast has a problem, you have to be more worried because they react so we know it will be difficult but we feel we can do it."
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