London — It has not been the easiest of weeks for Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte and as he prepares his struggling side for the trip to Premier League leaders Manchester City on Saturday.
After saying in a Sky Italia interview that Tottenham emerged from the transfer window weakened, Conte then claimed his side have only a one percent chance of a top-four finish.
After going unbeaten in his first nine league games following his appointment in November, Tottenham have suffered successive defeats against Chelsea, Southampton and Wolverhampton Wanderers, leaving them eighth.
That is the reality for a coach who won league titles with Juventus, Chelsea and Inter Milan but who is now experiencing his worst league run for 12 years.
"In the past I always said that you have to feel to have only one percent of the possibility to win the league," Conte said in an interview with beIN Sports this week.
That might not quite be what Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy wants to hear, especially following Conte's comments to Sky Italia this week about the club's January transfer trading.
Tottenham brought in Juventus duo Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski, the latter on a loan deal, but four first-team players were allowed to go -- Dele Alli to Everton and club record signing Tanguy Ndombele, Bryan Gil and Giovani Lo Celso on loan deals until the end of the season.
Conte claimed the situation was "not easy" and said Tottenham were more interested in developing young players, rather than signing players who are ready.
Asked about his comments when holding his pre-match news conference on Friday, Conte said he could not understand why people were trying to create a potential rift between himself and Levy over the club's ambitions.
"I don't understand why someone wants to create a problem with me," he said. "Not only me but in the past. I read stories in the past about this club and it creates a problem with the coach and the chairman.
"The chairman knows very well my thoughts. If I have to speak with him, I go to speak with him. Sorry but I was a bit disturbed by this situation, especially because I had an interview with the Italian media.
"It means the club now doesn't want me to speak to Italian media because the translation was not clear with my thoughts."
It has hardly been the ideal build-up for a clash with a City side who have won 14 of their last 15 league games and were outstanding in thrashing Sporting Lisbon 5-0 away on Tuesday to virtually book a place in the Champions League last eight.
The one positive for Conte is that defender Eric Dier is available again after missing the defeats against Southampton and Wolverhampton Wanderers through injury.
Reuters