Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte could come under fire in the coming weeks as Alasdair Gold expects stories of unhappy players to hit the press.
What’s the latest?
Spurs entered the World Cup break feeling like they needed a breather from Premier League action after a run of concerning defensive displays and mixed results saw them hanging on by their fingernails to fourth spot in the table.
However, the return to action has not been kind to them having conceded four goals across their two games against Brentford and Aston Villa in which they have only taken one point away from a possible six.
With their on-field issues on full display for all to see, scrutiny is turning towards Antonio Conte who has been unable to turn around Tottenham’s dismal defensive showings in recent months.
And with pressure growing on the Italian to find a solution to these poo r results, Gold has suggested stories of unrest at Hotspur Way among the players will likely be leaked to the press as is normally the case when a manager is coming to the end of their time at a club:
“I would be stunned if this is the period where we don’t start getting, ‘training is boring’, ‘Conte is overworking players’, ‘a fractured dressing room’, ‘there’s discontent about his tactics’.
“Because what happens in these periods is you get let’s say, it’s not usually the players themselves, but it’s the unhappy people around unhappy fringe players that aren’t getting a shot. Suddenly those little things leak and emerge and maybe sometimes exaggerated. Sometimes they’re true.”
“Honestly, if we don’t see one of those in the next two to three weeks, I’d be stunned.”
Turning sour at Spurs?
Tottenham have certainly been hindered by injuries this season with Richarlison, Dejan Kulusevski, Son Heung-min and now Rodrigo Bentancur all suffering issue which has seen some of Conte’s starters sidelined for periods of time.
However, it appears as if something else is not right in north London with this Spurs side coming under scrutiny during the early stages of the season when there was a clean bill of health for their dull style of football.
And now with pressure growing on the Italian to find the answer to Spurs’ problems, it will be interesting to see if reports potentially leaked by unhappy players begin to emerge.
Even under Mauricio Pochettino, this happened. Perhaps the manager who has received the most affection from those at Spurs over recent years saw players hit out about their frustration under the Argentine towards the final months of his tenure.
It does feel as if Conte could have been the man who would finally guide Spurs to silverware given his illustrious track record of winning trophies across multiple European leagues.
But as the results continue to get worse alongside the performances, it will be interesting to see how this relationship develops with the Italian sharing his concerns amid the January transfer window.
Source: Football FanCast
