Tottenham Hotspur’s Brazilian players had a funny story to tell to their home country’s media this week.
Interviewed by Fred Bruno, Emerson Royal and Richarlison recalled a rebellion the attacker had against former Spurs boss Antonio Conte.
In quotes brought by Tottenham Brasil, the fullback was the one who started recalling how it all happened, as Richarlison had been holding some words back for the coach.
“He arrived late for the meeting on the day of the game, and the guy [Conte] said, ‘Well, do you want to say something? Do you want to apologise to the team?’
“He asked the other lads who were late too, the lads said sorry, then he got to him, he was supposed to apologise, right? Then he said ‘ah, I think I need more minutes’. I think he understood that the guy asked him if he had anything to say, so he started saying that the formation we played was rubbish, he said a couple of things,” said Emerson Royal.
“I came out saying everything that came into my head: ‘I need more minutes’, ‘this formation is no good’, I didn’t adapt, ‘this formation is rubbish’, I came out saying it, then the guys behind me started laughing. I didn’t understand what he’d asked, I just said what I’d already rehearsed.”
The full interview should come out soon, and with Emerson Royal and Richarlison being two of the funniest Brazilians in the Premier League, we can probably expect some other nice stories to show up in the coming days. Especially because Fred and Desimpedidos are a channel for relaxed conversations and for footballers to tell their stories.
Antonio Conte was in charge of Tottenham between November 2021 and March 2023, so he was the manager when Richarlison left Everton for Spurs. Now the attacker seems to have a much better relationship with Ange Postecoglou, with whom he’s been showing better form.
