Antonio Conte says no manager in the world would be able to deliver a quick fix at Tottenham, claiming inconsistency has been “the story of this club for the last 20 years”.
The Italian, who was appointed in November, has spoken regularly about the major squad rebuilding project required to return the club to the heights of Mauricio Pochettino’s reign, during which they were Premier League runners-up and reached a Champions League final.
One of their biggest problems since Conte’s arrival has been stark inconsistencies in both results and performances, highlighted by the fact they won at Manchester City in the Premier League but then lost at Burnley and again at Middlesbrough in the FA Cup.
Conte says this has been the story of Tottenham for the last two decades, a period which has coincided with Daniel Levy’s reign as chairman.
He said: “For sure, to have this up and down I don’t like. I always said this from my first day when I arrived.
“Tottenham’s story is this, many ups and downs, but to be competitive, to try to win something, to try to fight for something important and become a strong team, the first thing that has to happen is to be stable and avoid these ups and downs.
“To do this and to change this type of situation that is happening for many, many years in Tottenham, it’s not simple.
“In a short time it’s impossible to do this, not only for me but I think for any manager or coach to come in and change the story in one second.
“This [is the] story of this club for the last 20 years.
“Especially when this club for 20 years has this type of situation.”
Spurs are back in action when they host Everton, live on Monday Night Football, and they have some good injury news with Rodrigo Bentancur and Lucas Moura back from injuries.
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Oliver Skipp is still out with a groin injury, with Conte last week saying he hoped his medical staff could rush the midfielder back.
But this week Conte said: “It is a pity I think in England that sometimes you should have a conference with the medical department.
“The doctors, it is too easy for the doctors to work here, because they don’t speak, they don’t explain what happens, you understand?
“Sometimes I think that could be good, one day, if in two weeks, to have a good press conference with the medical department to explain about the situation of the players, about the situation that they are trying to take care of their players. It is too easy for the medical department in England, I think so.
“He’s not ready, he’s having this problem with groin pain, and is fighting and he could recover before but maybe something was wrong, and now we have to wait.”