Antonio Conte pulled no punches in his assessment of his Tottenham team following their 3-3 draw at Southampton and changes must be made by Daniel Levy going forward
Following a disastrous month for Tottenham with the team crashing out of the FA Cup and Champions League when they really should have advanced, it was as if the 53-year-old had reached the end of his tether and he got everything off his chest in an extraordinary post-match press conference. He was absolutely seething and his players came in for plenty of criticism.
"The club has the responsibility for the transfer market, every coach that stayed here has the responsibility," he said. "And the players? The players? Where are the players?
"In my experience, I can tell you that if you want to be competitive, if you want to fight, you have to improve this aspect. And this aspect, I can tell you, in this moment is really, really low. And I see only 11 players that play for themselves."
Stating that the team have gone backwards and are now "worse" after not improving from last season, he said that excuses shouldn't be found when pushed about the uncertainty surrounding his future and that the current situation was "unacceptable". Indicating in his final answer that everyone at the club "has to take their responsibility" if there is to be a change, Conte also stressed that this is also the players and not just the club, manager and staff as "it is time to change this situation if Tottenham want to change".
Tottenham's season to date shows that something has to be done in terms of the playing squad this summer regardless of whether Conte is still at the helm or not. The players are the common denominator in the failings under Conte and Jose Mourinho in the past couple of seasons and a refresh of the squad is needed if the team are to get themselves out of their current predicament and challenge for major honours on a regular basis, as they aspire to.
Daniel Levy and Spurs could do a lot worse than to look across north London and the path Arsenal have taken over the past two years. Last qualifying for the Champions League in 2017 and having to make do with back-to-back eight places finishes in 2019/20 and 2020/21, Mikel Arteta and sporting director Edu knew that there had to be a major change at the Emirates Stadium if they were to move forward as a club.
The Gunners are now reaping the rewards of their ruthless calls and look on course to win the Premier League as things stand with 10 games of the campaign remaining. Playing eye-catching football and top of the league table on merit, there has been a huge shift in north London in a short space of time.
Tottenham must follow in Arsenal's footsteps by having a clear vision in mind and to not deviate away from it. What they also must be is decisive in the transfer market when it comes to selling players from their current squad as it needs refreshing with a handful needing to be moved on.
Tottenham face a pivotal few months and what happens next will have a major say in what the future holds for the club. Levy and the Spurs board need to be ruthless and make a statement of intent by showing that they really do mean business going forward.
Failure to do that and then the same old mistakes will just keep being repeated.