Ketchup and mayonnaise are ‘banned’ at Tottenham Hotspur by order of DT Antonio Conte

Antonio Conte was more than an hour late for his first press conference prior to a Premier League match. It was last Friday when the Italian coach, after Tottenham Hotspur training, had to apologize to journalists for the delay he had caused. AS from Spain.

The explanation has been told The Athletic a week later, adding data on how the dynamics of Spurs have changed since Conte replaced Nuno Espirito Santo: “It was not only the session on the pitch, but before going out to train Conte had his players analyzing the game of the Vitesse. Although that meeting was scheduled to last 20 minutes, it ended up being extended to 75, they say in the English medium. The routines have changed in the White Hart Lane team, who won 3-2 against Vitesse and who, 12 hours later, were training at high intensity at levels “that had not been seen since the days of Mauricio Pochettino ”.

This was in contrast to what had happened previously, as after a Conference League game, footballers generally spent the next day in the pool or gym. However, with Conte, they all jumped to train.

Another thing that the Italian coach tried to impregnate from day one is “a feeling of unity” among his squad. For example, he insisted that all players eat lunch together, something non-negotiable. Under Nuno’s command, sometimes this did not happen, since if someone skipped the meal with their companions, they would not suffer consequences.

This also triggered alterations in the players’ own diet, a subject that Conte does not want to go through: he has already explained the rewards that will be on the field. To help the physical condition of his footballers, Conte “has revolutionized the nutrition of the club”, since he thinks that some of the squad are above their ideal weight. One of the decisions is to eliminate the sandwiches after training, as well as the ketchup and mayonnaise.

“Ketchup (tomato sauce) and mayonnaise are absolutely prohibited …”, he communicated. He has also removed fruit juices and anything cooked with oil and butter from the list, as he wants players to eat more fruit.

As stated The Athletic, within Tottenham “there is a vision that the players have learned more with Conte in one week than with Nuno Espirito Santo in four months”.

After the win against Vitesse came a 0-0 win against Everton at Goodison Park. After the game, Sergio Reguilón was excited: “You can see that the team is more aggressive and competitive on the field. We believe in the things we practice in training camp, that’s the way. We have a lot to learn with Conte, he is incredible ”. (D)