Antonio Conte issues demands to Tottenham players “be nasty” by using the standout examples on what he really means

Antonio Conte issues demands to Tottenham players “be nasty” by using the standout example on what he really means

Tottenham have suffered back-to-back defeats against the Premier League’s top two teams, but they will look to get back on track when they face Fulham.

Antonio Conte has urged his players that they must become “nasty” if they want to return to the top four.

Conte claims his players were willing to “suffer” and show “resilience” last season in order to grind out victories when they did not earn them. However, Conte stated unequivocally that they had lost some of those values this time.

Tottenham recorded 13 clean sheets in the Premier League after Conte came in November last year, but only five this season Spurs boss Conte, whose side goes to Fulham on Monday night, said: “This is not a topic for one player or another player. When I speak, I always speak about the team.

“We attack with all the team and defend with all the team. For this reason, I think we have to try to improve in this aspect altogether with humility and to find a way again to be nasty in the way that last season we showed many times.

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“Many times we won games fighting a lot, suffering a lot, maybe sometimes we didn’t deserve it but in the end we won. And at the end, we finished fourth. I think this is very simple. We can’t lose what we created last season, the solidity, the desire to defend the result, the desire to win duels and don’t lose the nastiness.

“I always use a word. A team that wants to win, to be stable has to be a resilient team. We have to show in every game, to be resilient and this is not simple but I think this is the key.”

Tottenham were ninth and five points off a top four place when Conte took over and they are in a similar state now as they look to end a run of back-to-back defeats with just one win in their last five Premier League games.

They will need a strong run of results, but they must also return to being difficult to beat, and Conte wants to see more devilment in his players. Richarlison of Brazil got embroiled in a brawl with Arsenal keeper Aaron Ramsdale at the end of the North London derby, and the Spurs star is the player opponents despise.

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Conte confessed that Richarlison lacks match fitness to start games, but he admires his determination and believes the entire squad must dig deep in the coming weeks. “Richy still has to recover in the best physical condition first and foremost,” Conte stressed.

“He’s an important player for us but you have to be fit to play and to give the possibility to the coach to think about starting with Richy. Then for sure, Richy is one of these players who can give us something nasty.

“You feel his presence on the pitch. But I repeat, Richy is a player who needs to work, to have more work compared to his team mates because the injury was serious.

“It’s important for me to have all the players available because we are going step by step to build a strong squad. But to do this you need time, and to add players you add time, the transfer market and you need also money to invest.

“Every single player has their own characteristic. The most important thing is when you do a sport of a team, then you have to try to put all these characteristics inside one box and then to create the right mix to have everything.

Antonio Conte issues demands to Tottenham players “be nasty” by using standout example on what he really means