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Football London
Football London
Sport
Louie Chandler

'Typical Tottenham' - National media verdict as Antonio Conte makes worrying comments at Burnley

Antonio Conte was no doubt hoping to build some momentum at Tottenham following their brilliant 3-2 win away to Manchester City but those hopes were quickly snuffed out at Burnley on Wednesday night.

A second-half Ben Mee header was enough to earn Sean Dyche's side a 1-0 win, handing a huge boost to their survival chances and a hammer blow to Tottenham's Champions League ambitions.

A masterclass from Harry Kane at the Etihad Stadium was followed by an frustrating showing at Turf Moor. Where the club go from here this season remains to be seen.

With that in mind, football.london takes a look at how the national media reacted to the defeat and Conte's post-match comments.

The Mirror

"Blow away Manchester City at the weekend, flop to bottom-three Burnley four days later.

"The flaky nature of Antonio Conte’s side was on display as they were out-muscled by Sean Dyche’s men who are fighting for their Premier League lives.

"It is tight at the top for Spurs, but not tight enough, with this wretched, toothless performance damaging their hopes of a top-four Champions League finish or even European football.

"It looked like Spurs just didn’t fancy the wintery battle. Just one shot on target in the first half made for a tame spectacle played out in increasingly atrocious weather."

BBC Sport

"This was a bitterly disappointing night for top-four chasing Tottenham, who were a shadow of the side that won at leaders Manchester City on Saturday.

"After the half-time whistle blew, the TV cameras panned to Spurs boss Antonio Conte. The Italian was walking down the touchline to the dressing room. His dark blue cap, pulled tight onto his head, was soaked - and his dark blue coat the same. Head down, Conte strode on.

"The cameras were on Conte again at the final whistle, walking alone down the same touchline as Turf Moor celebrated a famous win.

The Italian suggested afterwards he might not be the right man for the job following a fourth defeat in five Premier League games that has left them eighth and seven points off a Champions League place."

The Guardian

"Burnley enjoyed great spells of possession without the ability to find a way through the Spurs midfield block, forcing the home side to waste the ball with direct passes aimed at Weghorst which never came to anything.

"Not that Spurs fared much better as they struggled to find any space behind the trademark Burnley back four, who diligently went about their business as the English centre‑back pairing of Tarkowski and Mee kept the England captain Kane quiet in front of Gareth Southgate.

"Pope finally had to make a save in the 64th minute as the ball crisscrossed the box until Emerson Royal laid it off to Davies to have a prod at goal. However the goalkeeper threw out a left fist to divert the shot wide.

"Hugo Lloris, too, suffered a rude awakening after a long night of keeping the rain out of his eyes, as Jay Rodriguez finally received the service he demands but his powerful downward header from a perfect Dwight McNeil cross was palmed to safety by the Spurs goalkeeper. He was not able to do anything minutes later, however, as Mee held off the challenge of Cristian Romero to head a deep free-kick back across goal to give Burnley the lead."

MailOnline

"After the weekend party, the midweek hangover. If Tottenham had still been flying high from their Etihad heroics, they were brought back down with a bump at Burnley.

"Antonio Conte had hoped last Saturday’s thrilling 3-2 victory at Manchester City would prove to be a turning point in his side’s season, a chance for his players to prove they could become ruthless winners.

"Instead, what he got was typical Tottenham, a dismal defeat against relegation strugglers which made you think that win against the Premier League leaders was merely a memorable one-off. Spursy? You bet.

"Conte had said this week he wanted to see his side become angrier when they lose. He never intended for them to be putting his words into practise quite so soon."

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