- Squad morale is ‘very down’ before Sunday’s visit of Liverpool
- Spurs are reeling from postponements and training disruption
First the good news. Antonio Conte said on Friday lunchtime that of the nine first-team players to have tested positive for Covid over a tumultuous two weeks or so at Tottenham, only two remained in isolation. “Now the situation is good for us … now we are going out of this situation,” the manager said. And yet, as Sunday’s visit of a rampant Liverpool heaves into view, it is plain that things are a long way from being ideal.
The broad outline of the Spurs outbreak, which took hold around the Norwich game on 5 December and was the first of several to derail Premier League clubs this season, is instructive. On top of the first-team player cases, Conte said that seven members of staff had returned positive tests plus “many, many” under-23 players.
