Antonio Conte has given a scathing assessment of his Tottenham team in the wake of their embarrassing defeat to NS Mura in the Europa Conference League on Thursday night.
Spurs were beaten 2-1 by the Slovenian minnows as goals from Tomi Horvat and Amadej Marosa stunned the Premier League outfit.
The result was Conte’s first loss since taking charge – and an embarrassing one at that.
He reacted in brutally honest fashion at the post-match press conference.
“After three weeks I am starting to understand the situation – it is not simple,” Conte said.
“At this moment the level at Tottenham is not so high.”
He added: “I am happy to stay here, but we have to work a lot to improve the quality of the squad.
“We are Tottenham, but there is an important gap with the top teams, but I am not scared.”
Asked if he had spoken to his players in the immediate aftermath of the result, Conte replied: “Usually I prefer to not speak to them after the game, especially when the game is not good because you are too involved emotionally.
“After the game I think it is good to not speak to the players. We will do it tomorrow.
“A bad loss, I am not satisfied with what happened. This is the second time in a row we have finished the game with 10, against Vitesse it was the same.
“We risked not winning against Vitesse and today it happened.”
In Spurs’ last game, they came from behind to secure a morale boosting win against Leeds United which gave Conte his first Premier League win at the club.
The Mura result will be a sobering wake-up call though, with a number of poor performances on display in Slovenia.
Matt Doherty made a rare appearance, while Dele Alli, Tanguy Ndombele and Ryan Sessegnon also featured.
Unfortunately for all four players they were unable to make the most of the opportunity.
Doherty and Alli were both subbed before the hour mark, Ndombele departed with 15 minutes to go and Sessegnon was sent off in the first half for two bookable offences.
Harry Kane’s first goal under Conte was a lone positive on the night.