Humiliated by Tottenham’s excesses at Leicester, Antonio Conte’s future looks more uncertain than ever as the Italian leads his spluttering side into Tuesday’s Champions League game against AC Milan. Conte is back in Italy for the last 16 first leg matches just two weeks after undergoing gallbladder surgery in his home country and his return is likely to be as uncomfortable as his last visit. The Tottenham boss has looked increasingly troubled this season and with his contract expiring at the end of the season, it would come as no surprise if he decided to leave the Premier League club in May.
Conte has expressed his displeasure with Tottenham Hotspur’s transfer deals, while making it clear on numerous occasions that he believes it is unrealistic for his side to expect them to compete with their big Premier League rivals.
Tottenham are still waiting for their first major trophy since 2008 and the team’s tough performances under Conte have hardly convinced frustrated fans that he is the man to end the drought.
The low point in Tottenham’s spluttering season came in a 4-1 defeat at Leicester on Saturday, with Conte returning to the dugout after surgery.
It’s been a hellish week for Tottenham Hotspur since Harry Kane became the club’s all-time top goalscorer with the winner against Manchester City, a match Conte missed in his recovery.
Already rocked by an injury to French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris that will rule out the Tottenham captain for six weeks, Conte has also dealt with injuries to Yves Bissouma, Ryan Sessegnon and Rodrigo Bentancur in the past seven days.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the circumstances, Conte was a demure figure at Leicester, rarely rising from his bench seat, in contrast to his usual lively persona.
Conte’s health problems have prevented him from speaking publicly, which might as well be after Tottenham’s miserable capitulation.
‘A long process’
The 53-year-old handed over media duties to his assistant Cristian Stellini, who complained about Tottenham’s surrender.
“The team has to change something. Not just individually. It’s about the desire,” said Stellini.
“There’s no explanation for it because if you know what’s happening you can change this. It happened last season when we beat Manchester City and then lost to Burnley.”
“Being consistent is a long process, a mental process. You have to be better mentally, better in the approach.”
Having Conte at less than 100 per cent does not help Tottenham find a way out of their predicament.
“We spoke before the game and during the game, but Antonio feels the difference. He takes care of his health, so he knows he has to be careful,” said Stellini.
“He wants to go back because he is our manager and with his passion he can also transfer, but he has to be careful at the moment.”
At the moment, Tottenham are fifth in the Premier League and were lucky that fourth-placed Newcastle could only draw at Bournemouth and be just two points ahead of Conte’s men.
However, it is still far from certain whether Tottenham will return to the Champions League next season.
Not finishing in the top four would raise the question of whether Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy would want to keep Conte, even if the former Chelsea, Juventus and Inter Milan boss indicates he wants to stay.
Against that difficult backdrop, a long run in this season’s Champions League could be the only way to heal Tottenham’s wounds.
(This story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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