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Tottenham boss Antonio Conte thinks his team have a long way to go in their development after their top-four hopes suffered a huge blow thanks to a 2-0 defeat to Wolves.
First-half goals from Raul Jimenez and Leander Dendoncker condemned the hosts to their third consecutive Premier League defeat, the second time Spurs have lost three top-flight games on the bounce this season and Conte’s worst league run since he was managing Atalanta in 2009.
Conte refused to question the commitment of his players after the game but acknowledged his team face a “long road” in their quest to compete at the top of the division as he called for patience amid a rebuild.
“Pressure is part of the job, pressure for me and pressure for the players,” Conte said. “This type of situation is part of our job.
“When I speak about improving many aspects [of Spurs’ performances], it’s not only today, after two defeats at home, that I tell you.
“There is a long road, a long path in front of us, It’s important not to be scared and to face this path.
“In this moment we have to be realistic and we have to be together.
“Our fans have to understand that maybe you need to have patience, to rebuild the situation they were used to in the past.”
Despite the defeat, Conte said he was content with Spurs’ second-half improvement, with the hosts recording 67 per cent of possession and registering 10 shots to their opponents’ four after the break.
“In my opinion the performance was good, we created many chances to score, [and] we had the possession of the ball.
“The commitment is very high but there is more [required] than this.”
Although Spurs did apply more pressure after the break, they recorded just 1.04 expected goals (xG) to their visitors’ 1.74 as they fell to a third loss in four home league matches against Wolves.
Spurs also maintained their unwanted record of having never won a Premier League home match when trailing 2-0 at half-time, having recorded four draws and 19 losses from such positions.
