Premier League

Tottenham Hotspur: Antonio Conte drops ‘brutal’ claim on Matt Doherty

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Image for Tottenham Hotspur: Antonio Conte drops ‘brutal’ claim on Matt Doherty

Journalist Oli Gamp was left stunned after hearing Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte drop a ‘brutal’ explanation on why Matt Doherty has not been playing.

Over the weekend, Emerson Royal picked up a silly red card in the Premier League after he made a ‘ridiculous challenge’ in the north London derby.

Spurs went on to lose that game to Arsenal, and Conte was asked why Emerson has been trusted to play this season as the first-choice right wing-back, while Doherty is yet to start in the league.

In response to this, Conte told the press: “Doherty last season played every game, and now I am not seeing him in the right way to start games. I am not stupid. I don’t want to lose.”

Having heard what he called a ‘brutal’ claim from the Italian, Gamp took to Twitter to express his thoughts on the matter, simply writing: “Yikes.”

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TIF Thoughts on Matt Doherty and Spurs…

Towards the end of last season, Doherty was just building up a bit of form in the league – starting seven games in a row, scoring twice and claiming three assists before suffering a bad injury (as per Transfermarkt).

Since then, Emerson has come into the team and the Brazilian has started all but one Premier League game for Spurs. Evidently, Conte has preferred him over the Irishman, and this has now been made perfectly clear.

However, with Emerson now suspended as a result of his red card, Doherty may be able to finally regain his spot in the team. He will have to contend with Djed Spence for that role, but Conte doesn’t seem too keen on him, either.

Indeed, he said to the press about Spence at the same time: “The fans have to be fans. They can think anything, but I see every day the training sessions. If they trust me, they trust me, but the choices are mine. If I don’t decide to pick a player, it’s because he’s maybe not ready.”

All in all, it doesn’t sound like Spurs have an awful lot of star quality in that position – at least, not in the eyes of their manager, which doesn’t bode well.

Who would you prefer to start?

Matt Doherty

Matt Doherty

Emerson Royal

Emerson Royal

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