Antonio Conte has warned his Tottenham players that “nobody is undroppable” as he targets a reaction to their Champions League defeat at Sporting Lisbon.
Spurs face bottom-of-the-table Leicester City in the Premier League on Saturday, four days after registering their first defeat of the campaign with a 2-0 reverse at the Estadio Jose Alvalade.
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Son Heung-Min, who tied with Liverpool‘s Mohamed Salah for last season’s Premier League Golden Boot, has come under scrutiny after a slow start to the season and when asked whether the South Korean was undroppable, Conte said: “There are no players that are undroppable.
“This has to be very clear. There are no players that are undroppable. Because if I tell this, it’s only to try to help my players and to try to avoid injuries, to try to have players at the top of their form and to have a good performance.
“If I am telling this it is only to protect my players and to give them the possibility to be, in every moment, at the top. Then you know very well you can play one game well, another you can score, another not, but my task is to try to protect my players and to protect the team. Also to find the right way to have a result.”
Conte also explained why Yves Bissouma has started just once since his £25 million summer move from Brighton, but hinted at making changes for Leicester’s visit — the final of seven opening games before this month’s international break.
“There are players like Richarlison, who went into the team quickly, [Clement] Lenglet was the same, [Ivan] Perisic was the same,” Conte added.
“The only player that is struggling a bit with the tactical aspect is Bissouma, but also he is improving a lot in every aspect. I am sure when we start again and play 13 games [before the World Cup], for sure he is another player I can count on but I try to take the best decision for the player because I want to protect the player.
– Champions League talking points after Matchday 2
“In the Champions League they are always massive games and for this reason I need to have all my players available. I need all my players available for rotation to be in every moment ready when I call them to play and to play well for the team, for the club, for the fans, for everybody.
“You know very well that we have to try in every game to get a win. This has to be our reality and for this reason you have to understand that when we lose, we are totally in the opposite side.
“And for this reason we have to feel, we have to be a bit angry, and to try and have a good reaction. Because now we have the possibility to play another game in the Premier League, and for us it’s important to get a win, but at the same time you know you’re playing against Leicester.
“The table at the moment is not faithful to them because we are talking about a really good team, a really good squad.”
