Antonio Conte has said that he does not mind if the Tottenham players are down for a few days following a defeat as it is necessary to ‘suffer’ if they are to build a winning mentality.
The past couple of weeks have been a rollercoaster of emotions for Tottenham, with the doom and gloom surrounding the back-to-back home losses against Southampton and Wolves being followed up by an outstanding win at the Etihad stadium.
The win would have helped turn the mood around in the Spurs camp, giving the players the confidence they need to push for a top-four finish this season.
Fabrizio Romano revealed on his YouTube channel that Conte made it clear to the squad ahead of their trip to Manchester City that he wanted to see a reaction following their two previous losses.
When asked how he works on improving the players’ psychological framework after bad results, the Italian told Football.London: “It’s very simple, it’s easy. We lost two games against Wolverhampton and Southampton and then we won against City.
“The first step to change your mentality is after a loss you have to understand that you lost a game. That is different and for sure the atmosphere has to be different, because when you lose a game and you come back to the training ground and ‘ok, it’s the same as yesterday’… but yesterday you lost!
“If we start to change the atmosphere, to understand that atmosphere also depends on the win or the defeat – I think this is the first step, to improve your mentality, to start to be a winner. When you know that the atmosphere is different, you try during the game to do everything to have a good atmosphere the day after, or the two days after.”
MORE SPURS STORIES
The Tottenham boss pointed out that elite teams have a mentality of responding positively to bad results and that is something the Spurs squad needs to develop.
He added: “I think that slowly slowly the players has to understand this difference. It is very clear in top clubs. When you are in a club that is used to winning, what happens when they lose?
“For example, Bayern Munich. They were dominating this season in Germany and then they lost 4-2 in the league [at Bochum] and then they had a 1-1 draw in the Champions League [at Red Bull Salzburg]. I read that the players were very very angry.
“They said: ‘No. We can’t continue this way. We have to be strong’, and you show you are feeling that. The situation has to be different when you win and when you lose.
“Otherwise if the atmosphere is always the same and it’s always joy and celebrations, I think it will be very difficult to install the right mentality, the winning mentality, in a team. I repeat – always in a balance. You have to suffer. If you don’t suffer, it means that you don’t want to improve your winning mentality.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Given the negativity surrounding the losses to Southampton and Wolves and all the things that had come out in the media last week, I was concerned that we might capitulate at the Etihad.
However, the players proved on Saturday that they are mentally strong and that they are more than capable of bouncing back from adversity. Hopefully, that win serves as a springboard to put in a sustained bid for a top-four finish.
Keep up to date with all the latest Tottenham news and opinion by following SpursWeb’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.
