Chelsea manager, Antonio Conte has slammed England coach, Gareth Southgate over his recent treatment and comment on Danny Drinkwater. Drinkwater failed to honour Southgate's call to represent England over the International break after he cited fitness related issues. The coach who criticized the player for failing to honour the invitation ruled out the possibility of the player to feature in his 2018 FIFA World Cup plan.
Conte has however risen in defence of his player. He said Drinkwater was injured and was not fully fit at the time the invitation was sent. He said from experience, Southgate should have contacted him to find out the fitness level of the player before extending invitation.
“Sometimes there is a way, which is very easy, to try to call the coach before and to ask ‘is it ok, I can do this? Is this player good or does he have a problem? Is he tired or not? I am telling you this because I was coach for the national team. In this way you can avoid a misunderstanding because about Drinkwater it was a misunderstanding.
“He was injured and also he wasn’t really 100 per cent fit to go with the national team. If someone asks me I can explain and if the coach wants to take the same decision it is ok, but it is important to have more relationship between the coach and the coach of the national team. It was the same for us with Eden Hazard (in late August when he was returning to fitness from a fractured ankle).
“Then I spoke with (Belgium coach) Roberto Martinez, I said yes and then he played. I am ready to help every single national team coach because I had this fantastic experience and I understand very well the problems. I am more open than before when I was the coach of Juventus but sometimes there isn’t the communication.
