MY ACCOUNT
Antonio Conte’s Tottenham revolution has hit the rocks and the Italian is hinting he may not be at the helm for much longer.
Spurs flopped to a damaging 1-0 defeat against struggling Burnley last night to leave themselves seven points behind fourth-placed Manchester United, albeit with two games in hand.
And after earning rave reviews for steadying the ship in North London since replacing Nuno Espirito Santo in November, Conte’s future is in major doubt following a run of four defeats in five league outings.
The angry boss admitted: “It was a difficult night. It’s not only tonight, in the last five games we lost four games.
“It means there will be [an] assessment about the club, about me, because I think for me it is very frustrating to lose four out of five.
“I am really sorry for the fans, I am really sorry because I think they don’t deserve this. The players are always the same in this club, the club change coaches but the players are the same, the result doesn’t change.
“I am too honest to accept this type of situation and for sure we will make an assessment with the club because it is not right, it is not right, it is not good for everybody to continue to lose and I can’t accept this. It’s not good for anybody.
“I came here to help the club, but in this moment it is very difficult, because I am not helping the club, and for me it’s a very, very frustrating situation.”
LiveScore take a peek behind the scenes at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to work out why the Italian already has one eye on the exit ahead of Saturday’s trip to Leeds.
Disconnect four
Things were looking up for Spurs in January as a lift in performances had Conte’s side set to make a strong push for the Champions League places and within reach of the Carabao Cup final.
But defeats in both legs of their semi-final against capital rivals Chelsea left the FA Cup as the 52-year-old’s only shot at making the short trip to Wembley this season before an alarming slump put European qualification in doubt, let alone the top four.
A stunning 3-2 triumph over Manchester City at the weekend showed Spurs’ potential to achieve under their highly-rated new boss with plenty of free-flowing attacking football on show.
But consistency is key and taking three points from a possible 15 is not good enough for a team, and manager, with continental ambitions.
January fails
Conte’s comments after last night’s humbling suggested he is not entirely happy with the club’s transfer business in the January window.
After insisting Spurs had a lot of work to do to keep pace with the Premier League’s big guns, the former Chelsea chief saw Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur arrive on deadline day to end an underwhelming month.
Top target Luis Diaz was poached from under their noses by Liverpool and Conte may have lost faith in chairman Daniel Levy’s willingness to give him the summer overhaul he and the fans desperately crave when the window reopens.
Having won league titles in his previous three club roles with Juventus, Inter Milan and Chelsea, the tactician has a taste for success and could walk if trophies are not on the menu.
To Ell and back
Conte has a reputation for demanding a lot from his players and the squad may be struggling to implement his high-energy style in a busy fixture list.
Facing a Leeds side who shipped six to Liverpool last night could be the perfect tonic and taking anything less than three points home from Elland Road will only increase speculation about the boss’ future plans.
Following that, Spurs travel to Championship Middlesbrough in the FA Cup on Tuesday and Conte will be desperate to repeat his 2018 success in that competition with Chelsea.
If those hopes fade, murmurs of a potential escape will hit crescendo and Tottenham will once again be at a crossroads with all the hallmarks of a major club but struggling to bring silverware to their state-of-the-art home.
