Tottenham captain Hugo Lloris says Antonio Conte’s mood swings are understandable given his side’s inconsistency, but believes they are now on the right path.
Conte has displayed a mixture of emotions in recent weeks, questioning whether he was the right man for the job after a loss at Burnley, which came four days after saying his squad was the best group he had ever worked with following a win at Manchester City.
Spurs’ inconsistency has brought about Conte’s changeable demeanour and they continued their win-loss-win-loss sequence with a comfortable 2-0 victory at Brighton on Wednesday.
Lloris says Conte is right to be frustrated, but sees positive signs after a third decent performance on the spin.
🎥 The highlights from an impressive victory at the Amex 🍿 pic.twitter.com/yXRtc4F4Cd— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) March 16, 2022
“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,” he said.
“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.”
The win at Brighton, coupled with Arsenal’s defeat to Liverpool, has seen Spurs re-enter the race for Champions League qualification as they sit three points behind the Gunners, who have a game in hand.
Another crunch weekend is in store as Spurs welcome top-four rivals West Ham and Lloris knows it is a must-win match.
“It’s clear, West Ham is going to be massive for us and could make the difference for the final race,” he said.
“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.”
