Antonio Conte is showing his Spurs stars no mercy as pre-season heats up in Korea
They may have athletic and footballing talents that we mere mortals could only dream of matching, but there was something extremely relatable about the struggles of the Tottenham Hotspur players in Seoul on Monday night.
Collapsing, some struggling for breath, all absolutely exhausted. This was a brutal pre-season training session played out in close to 30-degree heat with extreme humidity in front of around 6,000 supporters at the imposing Seoul World Cup Stadium. But for all the pageantry around it, there was a very bleep-test-in-school-PE feel to it. That sense of exhaustion, of nothing more to give, of “please make it stop”.
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Everyone present could feel it keenly from the stands.
Harry Kane was the first to go, collapsing off the pitch in some discomfort — he even vomited — and requiring a cold towel on his neck. Son Heung-min soon joined him, along with Lucas Moura and Yves Bissouma.
For Kane and Son, given extended leave after playing post-season internationals, the two sessions on Monday were their first proper training sessions of this pre-season. But there was no mercy from Antonio Conte and fitness coach Gian Piero Vetrone — the man whose brutal methods have earned him the nickname “The Marine”.
The players who lasted until the end completed 42 laps of the pitch (some with short breaks in between), taking in a total of around 4,200 meters, all done at pace, in extreme heat and humidity and after an already demanding session. Players like Kane and Son, who have only just come back from internationals, were given a maximum of 30 laps. Watching Troy Parrott, who returned earlier from national team duty, finish the final lap strongly and lead the way had the feel of a middle distance runner “kicking” after the bell had rung for the final lap.
Harry Kane was worked hard on his first proper day of pre-season (Getty Images)Such is Conte’s determination to maximise every minute of his first proper pre-season with the Spurs players that this was actually Tottenham’s third training session in just over 24 hours since arriving in South Korea on Sunday afternoon. They went straight from the airport to have a light session at the Goyang Stadium on Sunday afternoon (the intention being simply to take the flight out of their legs) and then had another session on Monday morning, though not with quite the same workload as the one in the evening.
As with their speedy and efficient transfer business, and even with the way they left behind four players from Korea they are trying to shift, it all has the feeling of a slick, totally-focused operation that is leaving nothing to chance. Conte wants his team to be fitter and sharper than everyone they play this season, and everything about Monday’s two-hour session felt geared to that.
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Dejan Kulusevski actually felt something in his calf early on in the session and went off for treatment — it’s hoped it was precautionary — as Spurs quickly got to work (Ivan Perisic is not yet ready for ball work following his own calf injury in the final game of last season with Inter). After a warm-up and then some ball work, the players were split into two teams but with only one goal. The team’s forwards who weren’t attacking a goal focused on stretching their opposition defenders, with the game generally geared towards giving the defenders practice playing out from the back under pressure. Variants of the game saw another goal added, the pitch narrowed and a two-touch rule introduced.
It was all done at pace as Bryan Gil missed a few chances, Fraser Forster bellowed at his defenders, and Conte told Matt Doherty he needed to move the ball more quickly.
And then came the fitness work.
A buzz of excitement went around the ground as the players started their sprints across the pitch. Before they started, they received instructions from Vetrone, who then patrolled proceedings like a drill sergeant.
— Charlie Eccleshare (@CDEccleshare) July 11, 2022
Kane’s collapse caused some concern, but it quickly became clear it was just a question of getting himself back up to speed at the start of pre-season. He rejoined the group after speaking to a member of the Spurs medical staff. Once it was all finished, Kane took his shoes off on the pitch and waved wearily to the supporters.
Before then, he was joined on the sidelines by various players at different points who couldn’t go on anymore.
Gil, Davinson Sanchez, Pape Matar Sarr and Parrott were well out in front, with the Irishman explaining earlier in the day that he’s always been a natural runner. Speaking at a Tottenham Hotspur Global football development session with young adults from ChildFund Korea on Monday afternoon, Parrott said: “It depends who you ask (about Conte’s sessions). I’m quite a good runner naturally but it’s been tough. It’s been hard work but it’s all preparation.”
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Monday’s training session hadn’t been expected to last so long but, once it got going, Conte wanted to maximise every minute.
Which feels like an accurate description of his time at Spurs in general.
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