Antonio Conte urges Tottenham to follow 'compulsory path' to battle Premier League 'monsters'
By Sean Walsh
Tottenham head coach Antonio Conte wants the club to follow what he believes is a 'compulsory path' in order to become a team capable of winning the Premier League.
Spurs' hopes of challenging for the title were dealt a hefty blow on Wednesday when they put in one of their worst performances under Conte in a 2-0 loss at Manchester United.
It was suggested that this again showed the club's soft underbelly, and speaking ahead of Sunday's match against Newcastle, Conte spoke of the need for Tottenham to follow a 'path' and 'process' in order to make the step up from contenders to winners.
"I like to talk about a process. I know we need a process to go step by step, to become a really, really strong team and to become title contenders," he said.
"I like to speak about the process because I know and I feel that this club and this team needed our process. Not in ten months or one year, and click, you can do it, everything is OK, you are title contenders and better than City, Chelsea, Liverpool, United and Arsenal.
"You try to do it but you have to know there is a path. This path is compulsory. You have to go through this if you want to fight for something special and win trophies."
Conte was then asked if such a process could be sped up by successful transfer windows, to which he replied: "In this process you have to involve many situations. Before reaching an important level we have to go through a path and improve the quality, improve the number of players in the squad, especially if we are to play Champions League and Premier League, but this is part of the process.
"Then it depends what we want, a long process, a short process, a medium process. You have the solutions but you have to know we need to have patience. I have great respect for the club and what the club wants to try to do but at the same time I know our possibilities are different to the monsters that are in England.
"There is a difference. It doesn’t mean my aspiration is not to fight at the same level, but I think you need to have time, patience, don’t make mistakes in the transfer market. Many situations, but it’s normal for a club like Tottenham in this moment."