Report: What Antonio Conte did to Tottenham star Bryan Gil right after he was substituted against Palace

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Antonio Conte’s Tottenham Hotspur returned to winning ways with an emphatic 4-0 victory over Crystal Palace on Wednesday, and young Bryan Gil was one of the most impressive players on the pitch.

Spurs’ return to the Premier League after the World Cup was a really poor one. They suffered a 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa at home in what was a really, really poor display.

Conte needed his side to respond and they did. Gil produced arguably his best performance in a Tottenham shirt against the Eagles.

What Antonio Conte did to Tottenham star Bryan Gil right after he was substituted against Palace

Conte has had to change things up at Tottenham because of all the injuries. The Italian has been without Richarlison, Lucas Moura and Dejan Kulusevski, which left a big hole on the right side of his attack.

The alternative for Spurs was either to play Ryan Sessegnon on the right wing or give young Gil a chance. Conte opted for the latter, and that didn’t quite work out against Villa on Boxing Day.

However, the Tottenham boss stuck by the Spaniard and gave him another start this week against Palace. That proved to be an inspired decision as Gil was truly fantastic.

He was involved in almost all the good things that Spurs did in attack and also contributed to three of the four goals they scored at Selhurst Park.

At the 77th-minute mark, Conte decided to withdraw his young winger. Right after he crossed the touchline, the Italian went up to him, gave him a big hug, kissed him on the side of his head, and shouted “bravo, bravo” before letting him have a seat on the bench (Football London).

That would’ve surely given Gil a ton of confidence ahead of the second half of the season.

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It’s still unlikely that Bryan Gil will get regular game time at Tottenham when Richarlison, Kulusevski and Lucas are all available, but the Spaniard did what he had to do to show his worth this week.

Everybody knew Gil was a hugely talented player when Spurs signed him 18 months ago. His potential is huge, but his physicality and ability to cope with the English game has always been the big question mark.

Even Conte himself hasn’t been convinced of this over the last year, but the Spaniard seems to have worked hard on this side of the game, and he’s now reaping the rewards.

Gil was expected to leave Tottenham on loan this month, but after his performance against Palace this week, we expect Conte to keep him around at least until the end of the season.