Stellini: “Conte won’t be on the bench against Chelsea, but with Milan…”

“I don’t think Antonio will be back next week for the match against Chelsea. But he should come back for that later”. The words are from Cristian Stellini, and the Antonio he updates is obviously Conte, forced by his convalescence after the operation to remove his gallbladder to leave Tottenham to his deputy. Also in the match won against West Hamwhich lifted Spurs back to fourth place in the Premier League table.

UPDATE

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Conte and Tottenham announced this week that the coach will spend the rest of his recovery with his wife and daughter in Italy, after hastening his return from the operation he underwent on February 1 (“Not a routine operation, but a serious and sudden emergency” as he himself admitted on social media) returning to the bench for Saturday’s 11th matches against Leicester and Tuesday’s Champions League matches against Milan at the San Siro. “I don’t think he will return with Chelsea, but probably the following week with Wolverhampton or for the return match against Milan” Stellini pointed out, referring to the match against the Rossoneri scheduled for 8 March. “We don’t really know: it depends on Antonio how he feels, whether or not he’s in pain.” Neither Conte nor Tottenham have set a date for his return. At San Siro Antonio had revealed that he had ignored the doctor’s order to take at least two weeks of rest, but it is clear that, if he has decided to continue his convalescence in Italy, something has not worked properly in his recovery and that now they will be the doctor’s advice, plus a sense of responsibility towards Tottenham and the need to be with the team, to guide his decisions.

INVOLVED

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Also because Tottenham have found a way to keep Conte involved. He, Stellini and the rest of the staff communicate with each other on a daily basis, they prepare the match together as they would if Antonio were in London, with those sensations that are only felt on the pitch and which determine many of the decisions collected by Stellini and then referred to Conte. “We won because Antonio is our guide and I follow his work, what he has set out so clearly- said Stellini-. I put my experience into it and tell him what I see, but Antonio is always involved. He gave us advice via sms even during the match, we asked him what he thought, if it was the right time to change this or that player and he gave us his opinion. But it’s different from TV than in the stadium, and he trusts me and the rest of the staff. Our guide, however, remains him”. Conte can heal calmly.