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Football London
Football London
Sport
Laurie Martin

Tottenham fans told to be patient amid Antonio Conte criticism

Graeme Souness has told Tottenham fans to be patient with Antonio Conte. The Spurs boss received some criticism from Spurs supporters following the recent games against Arsenal and Eintracht Frankfurt.

Tottenham suffered their first league defeat of the season at Arsenal last weekend in the North London Derby, with Conte questioned over his pragmatic style and substitutions - taking off Son Heung-min and Richarlison while his side were chasing the game.

Spurs followed that up with a drab 0-0 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt, which leaves Tottenham with just four points from three games in their Champions League group. They registered just two shots on target in the draw in Germany.

READ MORE: Antonio Conte's troublesome Tottenham concern he must address to hand Arsenal and Man City worry

Former Newcastle United boss Souness believes Conte has come in for unfair criticism and has called for fans to show faith in the 53-year-old.

"I think the criticism they got for the performance and losing at Arsenal was too much," Souness told Sky Sports.

"They had a player sent off on the hour, and I understand the pragmatic approach of the manager. At that point, he's thinking, 'I don't want to get spanked five or six'.

"That's just not an Italian mentality, and he had a big midweek game in Frankfurt, so he made the correct substitutions as he just wanted to see the game out, but he's got a lot of stick for it.

"I think Spurs are going in the right direction, I think they've got a fabulous manager, and the supporters have to be patient. He's been there a year.

"You're not going to change Spurs from whatever they were before into a team that Spurs supporters are dreaming about having. That isn't going to happen in a year. Be patient. You've got the right man in charge and with the correct support, he'll do very well at Spurs."

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