Conte slams ‘waste of time’ Premier League meeting

League officials held two meetings with all 20 top-flight clubs on Thursday to discuss the player welfare and fixture congestion.

Tottenham manager Antonio Conte feels the latest meetings with the Premier League were a ‘waste of time’, as ‘everything was decided’ before then.

The English league held two separate meetings on Thursday. The first one was with all Premier League managers, and the second one involved the captains and senior players of the 20 clubs. The purpose was to discuss the congested Christmas period and the demands it would place on teams, with many sides losing players due to the COVID-19 outbreak in England.

It was the second time in a week that the Premier League met with clubs regarding the situation, after deciding against altering the festive schedule on Monday.

🗣 "We tried to speak and some coaches tried to speak but I think everything was decided, It was a wall."

Antonio Conte admits that the Premier League managers meeting was a waste of time pic.twitter.com/t7s8qEMN4o

— Football Daily (@footballdaily) December 24, 2021

What did Conte say?

Speaking about the latest meeting at a press conference on Friday, however, Conte likened it to talking to a wall.

“I have to be honest I think that it was a meeting where we tried to speak, and some coaches tried to speak and ask about solutions,” said the Spurs coach, as quoted by Sky Sports.

“But I think that everything was decided. And I think yesterday was a wall, and for this reason also I don’t want to go into the discussion.”

Asked if Thursday’s meeting was a waste of time, Conte replied: I think so. Because when you have a wall in front of you, you can ask and speak about what you want, but every decision was taken.”

On the bright side for Spurs, Conte did confirm the players who were absent due to COVID-19 are back in training. Cristian Romero and Ryan Sessegnon are the only absentees.

The north London side return to action on Sunday at home to Crystal Palace in the Premier League.