Antonio Conte says Tottenham are still too ’emotional’ and need to ‘improve their personality’ to really challenge | Latest News Headlines

Antonio Conte says his improving Tottenham side are still too emotional and they have to learn not to ‘lose control’ if they are to become a ‘great team’.

Conte’s Spurs aim to continue their remarkable comeback when they face Southampton at St. Mary’s on Tuesday.

The 3-0 win over Crystal Palace on Boxing Day saw the Italian go undefeated in six League games and place Spurs in fifth place, six points behind rival Arsenal, but with three games remaining. less.

Conte dismissed comparisons with his Chelsea side who won the title in 2016-17 and said Spurs could still improve in a number of areas, including their ability to control games for 90 minutes.

“From the start until now, the whole team has improved in many ways,” he said.

“I know it’s not enough. Now we have to continue like this. We know our strengths. We also know our weaknesses. We have to improve our weaknesses to become stronger.

“I tell my players to play football with personality and to try to make the best decisions. I think during the game we sometimes have emotional moments and I think we need to improve that aspect.

“We have quality players, the best players on the team, and now we have to improve the personality, control the game, improve possession, improve decisions, the final pass, the finish. I think we can improve a lot on these aspects. [Against Palace] we created a lot of chances and we could have scored more.

“We need to improve confidence and [show] more personality, play soccer and better control the game.

“Sometimes we lose control and I think a great team, a great team has to stay in [control in] each moment.”

With Tuesday’s game set to be Tottenham’s third in six days and a second in 48 hours, Conte understands the need to strike a balance between making changes at St. Mary’s and maintaining the ‘identity’ of his growing team. .