‘Don’t care’ – Conte comments more on Richarlison’s situation at Spurs

Speaking to the press after the win over Nottingham Forest today, Antonio Conte further addressed Richarlison’s situation at Tottenham Hotspur after the player made controversial comments earlier this week.

Richarlison signed for Spurs from Everton in the summer in a deal worth a reported £60 million (Sky Sports).

Despite early signs of promise, it has been a difficult campaign for the Brazilian, who is yet to score in the Premier League and has just two goals to his name for Spurs (Transfermarkt).

After a brief run in the team of late, Richarlison was dropped to the bench for the games against Wolves and AC Milan, and was clearly not very happy about the decisions taken by both Cristian Stellini and Antonio Conte.

In a post-match interview with ESPN Brazil (as translated by the Daily Mail) after the game against AC Milan, Richarlison spoke of his frustrations and appeared to criticise the process of the Spurs management team.

Conte later addressed these comments in his press conference ahead of the weekend (Football.London), insisting he did not feel criticised by Richarlison and admitting the player has had a difficult season.

Now, Conte has expanded on his thoughts on the situation, explaining Richarlison’s role in the Tottenham squad.

He told Football.London: “Don’t forget that Richarlison started the season really well and after three or four games he started to play regularly.

“He played well but he didn’t score, only in Champions League, but he was many times in the starting line-up.

“Then he had a serious injury and the guy was really scared to lose his World Cup place, then he recovered and then he got another serious injury in the World Cup.

“He came back after the World Cup and then stayed one month to recover and then he struggled a bit.”

On his decision to put Richarlison on the bench, Conte added: “He had other problems physically but I repeat, the coach is not so stupid.

“All the coaches are not so stupid. They start their best players. They don’t care if it’s Richarlison, Kane, Son, Lucas, Kulusevski, or Danjuma, we want to win. I have to take the right decision.

“We needed to get points and we need to win in every game. I understand that if you speak to every player they want to play every game, even when they’re tired.

“It’s not fair because I repeat, you have to take the best decision. If the player is tired but wants to play, and then he gets an injury, then he’s out and relaxed but I’m out.

“In England, they think you have to have 11 strong players, you need 17, 18, and that’s how you win.”

Spurs Web Opinion

There’s no doubt that we need to play the best team possible to ensure we win games, and that’s all about form and fitness.

Players can’t be selected just because they demand it.

That said, Richarlison put in a great performance today when given the chance, and should be rewarded with more time on the pitch in the coming games.

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