Clinton Morrison feels Antonio Conte ‘must be frustrated’ at Tottenham Hotspur and will tear his squad up in the next transfer window after losing to Middlesbrough in the FA Cup.
Spurs crashed out of the competition in the fifth-round after Josh Coburn fired home in the 107th-minute on Tuesday night. The north London side are now set for another trophyless season and only Conte’s second since 2011, barring a seismic shift in the Premier League.
Tottenham had started the campaign with eyes on competing across four tournaments. But Chelsea eliminated their rivals in the Carabao Cup semi-final. Spurs also exited the Europa Conference League in the group stage after UEFA decided their Rennes clash was forfeited.
Conte’s only remaining target for the season is to see Tottenham finish in the top-four and seal Champions League qualification. But a lack of consistency leaves Spurs seventh after 25 games. Yet they are only five-points from Manchester United with two games in hand.
Morrison expects ‘frustrated’ Antonio Conte will tear Tottenham squad apart
Morrison noted on Sky Sports News (1/3, 22:26) after Middlesbrough beat Tottenham that consistency issues are holding Spurs back. The FA Cup loss followed a 4-0 win over Leeds United in the Premier League that had appeared to be a response to losing 1-0 at Burnley.
“You lose another game, you win a big game, you lose another game,” he said. “It has to be consistency with Tottenham and at the moment, that’s not happening and that’s why they’re not getting the results… Now they’ve just got to try and fight to get in the top-four.”
Morrison adds that Tottenham going from high to low over and over again, having beaten Manchester City last month but then going out of the FA Cup to a Championship side, will frustrate Conte. So, he expects the Italian to target wholesale changes in the summer sales.
“That’s strange,” he said. “That’s consistency and at the moment, they haven’t got that at Tottenham. [Conte] must be frustrated. You have to give Conte more time because in the summer, he’s going to bring in the players he wants and get rid of a few players and then you can judge him with his side. He’s a serial winner, he has to go in there and change it.”
Conte named a strong Tottenham side to face Middlesbrough in the FA Cup with Harry Kane, Heung-Min Son, Dejan Kulusevski, Ryan Sessegnon, Cristian Romero and Hugo Lloris all starting. He also introduced Steven Bergwijn and Emerson Royal from the bench.
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