Ambition is Conte’s main concern, not Tottenham players’ feelings

Antonio Conte is not the arm-around-the-shoulder type when it comes to the hard business of omitting players from his starting XI because, frankly, where does it end? “I don’t like to give explanations to my players,” the Tottenham manager said before Saturday’s visit of Leicester. “Otherwise in every game I have to speak to one, to another one and another one.”

But Conte made an exception this week after leaving out Dejan Kulusevski for the third straight match – the 2-0 Champions League defeat at Sporting on Tuesday night.

“To drop Deki for three games in a row, honestly for me, it was difficult,” Conte said. “For sure, the first problem is for him because when I go home and I start to think [about omitting him] … I spoke with Deki because after three times that you go on the bench, he deserved to feel that my trust, my confidence, was like always.”

Kulusevski had started the season well, having starred over the second half of the previous campaign after his January arrival from Juventus. The fans love his energy and power, his direct running and how he makes things happen. And so does Conte. But things are different after the £50m summer signing of Richarlison, a deal that speaks volumes about Conte’s influence at the club; how he has encouraged them to think bigger.

With Kulusevski, Harry Kane and Son Heung-min on the books, it was easy to believe that Spurs did not absolutely need another top player for their front three, especially one so expensive. Conte, though, made Richarlison a priority – to give him options in a season where Champions League football is back on the menu; to fire competition in the squad.

“It has to be a habit for Tottenham – to think with ambition,” Conte said. “If we did not have ambition, I