Spurs were beaten 2-0 by Aston Villa at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium; Antonio Conte hit out at "unrealistic expectations" afterwards and said they need to up their spending; Jamie Redknapp: "I don't like the way this is shaping up. I can see cracks appearing"
Sunday 1 January 2023 20:48, UK
Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp fears cracks are appearing in Antonio Conte's relationship with Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy and feels the Spurs head coach may even be looking to engineer his exit from the club.
Spurs suffered a fourth defeat in seven Premier League games as they were deservedly beaten 2-0 by Aston Villa at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on New Year's Day, their performance booed by the home supporters as Conte's side slipped out of the top four.
Conte hit out at "unrealistic expectations" of his team after the game, insisting it was "crazy" for Spurs to be described as title contenders before the start of the season and saying the club need to be spending between £50m and £70m on two players every year if they are going to compete for major honours.
Asked in the Sky Sports studio whether he believes the club will meet Conte's demands on Super Sunday, Redknapp said: "£60-70m every year? No, that's not how Daniel Levy works.
"That's not the kind of business they want to do. They want to buy good young players, improve them and then try to sell them on.
"It doesn't make up for the fact they were poor today. No [Dejan] Kulusevski, who has been important, or [Rodrigo] Bentancur, who has been instrumental.
"But I don't like the way this is shaping up, with Antonio Conte and Daniel Levy. I can see cracks appearing, [Mauricio] Pochettino in the wings, I don't feel this is going to end up the way it should do.
"I'm a big Antonio Conte fan but I think there's going to be a fallout pretty soon."
In addition to mentioning the availability of former Spurs boss Pochettino, who is currently without a job following his departure from Paris Saint-Germain, Redknapp said he feels Conte is provoking Levy.
"For Levy to change how he's done it for many years, it's just not going to happen. The more you provoke him, the more you're going to upset him.
"He's definitely searching for something right now, Conte, and it looks like he's looking for an exit clause.
"Levy will hate that kind of message being sent to him. Conte is very emotional but that's typical.
"They want the best for the club, it's his club, his team, his passion."
Graeme Souness, meanwhile, spoke of his concern at Tottenham's defensive fragility and highlighted the subdued display of Harry Kane following his return from the World Cup with England.
"That's 10 games back to back they've gone behind," said the Sky Sports pundit. "The last thing you hear at a dressing room door before going out to play is to be sure we start right. Tottenham aren't doing that.
"That message isn't getting through. They need to give themselves a shake, not talk about players that are injured, and stand up and be counted.
"Why are Spurs going to finish in top four? Harry Kane. But Harry's looking like a shadow.
"Conte is trying to bat away the criticism by saying we haven't got good enough players.
"Kane looked like a shadow at the World Cup. I actually thought England could win the World Cup. I thought they had a chance if Harry Kane was on fire - he wasn't on fire.
"He's come back and that performance today I thought he was a shadow of himself."
