Antonio Conte's direct jab and the implications

Antonio Conte's interview with Sky Italia won't go away, but how much would it affect Tottenham's season? (Photo credit: Sky Italia)

Antonio Conte granted an interview few days ago as released by Sky Italia and the media hasn’t rested from the comments he made about almost giving up on top four race and his disappointment at the quality of his squad even after the January window.

In all honesty, there was nothing Conte said in the interview that wasn’t correct, it’s public knowledge that Daniel Levy isn’t easy to negotiate but the timing of the interview and the context will always draw attention from people.

You’ll be tempted to ask, why did Conte share so much to the Italian media? There could be so many reasons, he could be talking to his employers – As most people believe, he could be talking to his players or the fans, while all he said were pure facts, should he have said them?

Sky Italia is known for controversial exclusives, we very well remember the Romelu Lukaku episodes with Chelsea and how it reverberated across borders, the next question would be pointed at Tottenham and their owner, what next?

Levy is yet to publicly react, his body language suggests doom. About this same time last season, Jose Mourinho was publicly hammering his players, questioning their integrity and work rate, the club frowned at it and he was eventually fired, is Conte on the same path?

Tottenham endured a torrid past few games week, losing back-to-back games and ceding top four advantage to rivals, Conte saying his team is out of the top four race should be a criminal offense except he’s making a tongue in the cheek statement to flatter the chasing pack.

Manchester City are the next opponent for Spurs, the champions aren’t the team you want to play when you’re struggling with confidence, but a strong performance and a win could very much lead to the right bounce and strong finish.

Spurs did add Kulusevski and Rodigo Bentacur from Juventus but you can say those two are on the fringes at Turin, they will surely help fill the void left by Dele Alli and Tanguy Ndombele, but can Spurs actually mount a solid top four challenge?