Tottenham Hotspur coach tells Antonio Conte that Oliver Skipp ‘needs to play’ for Spurs
Manager Antonio Conte has been told by assistant coach Cristian Stellini that Oliver Skipp ‘needs to play’ for Tottenham Hotspur.
Conte has preferred Skipp as a player to strengthen his team’s midfield depth. The Englishman was sidelined for the start of the season with an injury he sustained during a training session.
But the fact he was kept at N17 when Giovani Lo Celso, Tanguy Ndombele, and Harry Winks left on loan spells showed that he was in Conte’s immediate plans, albeit as a squad player.
He has managed just 482 minutes across 14 games this term for Spurs. But he has been called into action on a more regular basis recently due to injuries to Yves Bissouma and Rodrigo Bentancur.
Skipp draws big praise
This is his time to shine. He was pretty good in our 1-0 UEFA Champions League first-leg round-of-16 loss against AC Milan last week. Skipp also put in a solid performance in midfield against West Ham United on Sunday.
Despite an early yellow card (ninth minute), he kept his composure and put in a very mature performance for the next 80 minutes as Spurs ran out 2-0 winners. Speaking after the game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Stellini said (h/t Football.London):
“He is a young player who needs confidence, needs to feel everything perfect around him. He needs to play. This type of player needs to play. We can give him all the love we can but the player needs to play and want to play to stay in confidence.
“When Skippy is confident, he is a young player with a great mind. It’s not because you’re young that you don’t have experience. Skippy is an intelligent player and for that it seems he’s more than his age.”
Even if some may not have faith in the 22-year-old’s ability to be a regular starter for us, they would have no choice but to accept the situation. Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg is our only world-class, tried and tested option in central midfield right now.
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It’s either Skipp or Pape Matar Sarr for the other position. But thankfully, the former seems to be making the most of his chances and can hopefully make himself into a player who really challenges Bentancur for a starting spot when the Uruguay international returns from his injury.
