Every word Conte said on Bentancur, Kulusevski and what he wants from Spurs

Does it feel like Harry Kane is returning to his best?

For sure we need to try to improve the players, no? And I think Harry, also in the past, when in the games that he didn’t score, I liked his performance.

Harry is a player who’s scored a lot in the past as a number nine, but I think what we can appreciate – me and also the whole team – is his attitude and commitment for the team.

I think this is the most important thing for us. Then for sure, to score two goals is important because he’s number nine, he’s used to scoring goals and he’s also improving his… we are working on the physical condition with the team.

We’re trying to improve the intensity, also during the training sessions. I think all these situations can improve the performance with all the players.

For sure, I’m happy for him but I’m happy for the whole team. I’m happy for Son and Romero to come back into our team. It was important.

It was a pity for Eric Dier because yesterday he had a little problem and the medical department decided not to take a risk.
I think we have to be pleased to continue in this way. We know very well that this trophy is important.

It’s a great competition, a great trophy, a historical trophy in England. Now we have to move on and start to think about Wednesday.

We have another important game against Southampton. We have to prepare very well, because the league is very tough and we want to stay close for important positions.

Both of your new signings came off the bench tonight, what did you make of their performances?

It was important also to breathe the atmosphere for the two new signings, for us, for Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur.

It was important to come in and to understand the intensity of this league. I repeat, two good players, two young players with talent. They can help us.

Rodrigo, despite his age, only 24-years-old, has a lot of experience because he played 120 games for Juventus. Kulusevski, the same. I think they can help us. I’m pleased that I gave them the opportunity to come in and also breathe this fantastic atmosphere in our stadium. Our fans, the noise tonight was so intense that it was also very difficult to communicate with the players.

How good was it for Son to come back?

It was good news for us. Sonny is an important player for us. He’s decisive. He knows that very well. Today I wanted to give him 65-70 minutes because when you come back after injury, I prefer in a week when we have three games, to manage very well Son and also Romero. Because after serious injury, to have them back was good news but also we have to try to manage them very well and not take risk because they’re important players for us.

How important was this night for the two new signings?

As I said to you before, it was important for the new signings to come in and to understand very well that this league is very difficult. When you come here from another league you need a bit of time to understand the intensity and understand that here the difficulty is very high. For me, tonight to give them the possibility to come in and play for 20-25 minutes was important for Kulusevski and Bentancur. I repeat, two good signings for us and they can help us for the rest of the season, Now start the second part of the season and I think with these two new signings we are more complete as a squad.

Do you know what Emerson was doing with his celebration as he looked to be pointing at somebody?

Emerson he needed this goal. I think his performance was really top tonight. He played very well. And it’s important for his confidence, important for him. Don’t forget that also Emerson is only 20 years old and to come here and play in another league is not simple. There are a lot of difficulties, but Emerson is a good player and knows very well that there’s space for improvement. To score a goal was important for the confidence, for himself and especially for the team.

Did it feel more like the Spurs team you hope to create tonight?

The players know very well that we want to play and bring high intensity during the game. We want to try to do this in every game and for sure, especially in the first half, we brought an important intensity during the game.

We want to try to play exciting football with and without the ball and to try and involve our fans to be happy for what they’re seeing, what they’re watching. We have to continue in this way, to play with this intensity you need to have a good squad.

Because when you play every three days, it’s important to also make rotation but also when you make rotation the quality has to stay at the same level otherwise you risk losing points. We have to pay great attention to this aspect.

And for this reason, in Kulusevski and Bentancur, we added two players in roles that we needed. We needed to improve the quality and also the numerical aspect.