Tottenham Hotspur captain, Hugo Lloris, has opened up on Antonio Conte’s visible frustration over the past few weeks, with the squad struggling to return consistent results.
While Spurs seem to be showing more and more of the trademark Conte hallmarks as the weeks pass by, the consistency the team had under the Italian in his first few weeks has all but dissipated.
The Lilywhites are now seemingly stuck in a strange win-one-lose-one pattern and will be looking to finally win back-to-back domestic games this weekend when they welcome West Ham to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Lloris believes that Conte’s frustration has been understandable at times, but he is confident the Spurs head coach and his staff will never give up.
The French goalkeeper also spoke of the importance of Tottenham’s match against the Hammers if they want to ‘compete for the final race’ this season, with a distant Champions League spot still just about in view.
Lloris said (Yahoo Sport): “Obviously after four months we start to know each other well. I think he’s showing a lot of passion and he’s doing his job with a lot of emotion.
“At some moments we can understand his frustration. The players as well, we have this frustration but we keep going, we keep working.
“Antonio and his staff provide the best from day one and they are not the kind of people who are going to give up in any circumstances.
“You are in the Premier League and you face difficulties but we – everyone, coaching staff and players – feels the improvement.
“We really feel the way and the direction we want to take as a team and I think game by game we want to keep improving to make the chance to compete for the final race.”
On West Ham, he added: “It’s clear, West Ham is going to be massive for us and could make the difference for the final race.
“When we started this week, especially after the disappointment of the Manchester United game, we had a clear target with Brighton away and West Ham home before the international break – to take maximum points to be close for the European places.
“It’s important to keep our feet on the floor and move game by game, honestly. But I really feel improvement of the team, even with the loss against Manchester United.
“The feeling after the game, there was frustration obviously but there was a real feeling that we are clearly showing a direction in the way we play football. And today again.
“It’s been now a few games in a consecutive way that we are growing in terms of maturity and growing in terms of good feelings, even if we had some disappointments like the FA Cup loss, the Manchester United game, Burnley away from home.
“I believe it’s part of the process but it’s clear and really important to understand that Sunday is massive for Spurs if we want to be in the right place for the final race, and keep our chance, keep our hopes for a strong finish to the season.”
Spurs Web Opinion:
In my mind, the only way Spurs get top four is if they beat West Ham and Arsenal (as two major rivals for the spot), as well as picking up the vast majority of points against mid-table and lower-table teams between now and the end of the season. Dropping points at crucial times would be the final nail in the coffin, especially against a rival.