Tottenham boss Antonio Conte has claimed his side are still not ready to be title contenders following another poor performance against one of their main rivals.
Spurs were beaten 2-0 on Wednesday night at Manchester United, and it’s just the latest Premier League match against a fellow ‘Big Six’ side where the Italian’s team have failed to put in a convincing display.
Despite enjoying one of their best starts to a Premier League season and only sitting four points off the top, Conte still thinks a title charge is far too soon for his side having only taken charge nearly a year ago.
‘Sometimes I listen that we are title contenders and I think we need time, Conte said.
‘In only 10 or 11 months, you cannot pass from ninth place to become the title contenders a year after, especially when you finish 20 points less than the monsters in England,’ he added.
Spurs hardly threatened at Old Trafford and were defeated by goals from Fred who scored with a deflected effort at the start of the second half, with Bruno Fernandes making the points safe for United later in the half with an excellent cushioned volley.
Spurs have failed to convince against top level opposition throughout the season, needing stoppage time to secure a fortunate 2-2 draw at Chelsea while also meekly surrendering to a 3-1 defeat at Arsenal in the north London derby at the start of the month.
Conte insists he is aware of the problem and has called on his side to start stepping up to the higher tests to prove their worth as they look to fix the issue.
‘For sure not a good game for us but I have to be honest and first of all, especially with my players, this was not the first time for us, despite the table being good but every time we played a high level game we struggle,’ he said.
‘We struggled against Chelsea because we drew after 92 minutes but Chelsea dominated the game and with Arsenal we lost and today against United we lost.
‘For sure when the level is high, we are going to struggle. This means we have to continue to work to try to improve, to work on the pitch and to work outside the pitch.
‘We can improve, we need to continue to work and for sure it is right with the club also to analyse very well why when we are going to play this type of game where the level is very high we are struggling.’