Gianluca Di Marzio has discussed how Antonio Conte’s magic in training has helped transform Tottenham Hotspur duo Dejan Kulusesvki and Rodrigo Bentancur on the training pitch.
The Italian football expert has claimed that Kulusevski was a ‘mystery’ at Juventus but under Conte he’s been playing in an ‘amazing way’ and Bentancur simply ‘needed a fresh adventure’.
Fabio Paratici, used his connections in Turin to sign the duo for Spurs in January. And while at that time, the signings seemed to be nothing but panic buys, they have actually turned out to be two of the best signings the club has made recently as they helped the Spurs qualify for the Champions League last season.
And they’ve carried that form into this season, despite Conte’s players suffering their first defeat of the season in the Champions League against Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday.
When asked about the reaction in Italy to Kulusevski and Bentancur’s transformation in England, Di Marzio told Sky Sports (h/t HITC):
“A player like Kulusevski is playing in an amazing way because Antonio Conte is his coach. At Juventus, he was a mystery.
“At Juventus, Bentancur was playing for too many years and he needed a fresh adventure.
“But Kulusevski in Italy, he couldn’t express his potential and skills because they didn’t know what’s the role or the way of playing.
“Then, Antonio Conte says ‘no, he is an offensive winger’ and the intensity of the training is important because you know with Conte, his training is so high and tough. Then, the player runs and runs a lot during the matches.”
The two players, Kulusevski in particular looks like a completely new player under Conte and has been a breath of fresh air for our attack. And it’s all down to Conte’s training and man management.
Let’s play Kulusevski then.