(Football news) With the race for top 4 heating up, Tottenham knew that only a victory would be enough to reclaim the fourth spot in the Premier League from Manchester United. However, Antonio Conte’s side produced a nonchalant performance in the first half and went a goal down after Emiliano Buendia capitalised on an error by Hugo Lloris in the 50th minute. Aston Villa showed great discipline to defend compactly and did well to restrict Spurs throughout the match and doubled their advantage through Douglas Luiz in the 73rd minute.

It was such a poor performance by Tottenham that they couldn’t even manage a shot on target in the second half with both Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son proving to be ineffective, prompting boos from the home fans at full time. The result meant that the pressure is on Tottenham and Antonio Conte to get on a winning run fast if they want to qualify for Champions League next season while Unai Emery extended his winning run against Spurs to four Premier League games.

After the match, Tottenham manager Antonio Conte said that the expectations were “crazy” and downplayed any chances of his team being potential title contenders without backing in the transfer market. In the post match press conference, Conte said “I continue to repeat that last season we made a miracle. It happened, why? Because we played only one competition and we played with 12 or 13 players that didn’t have injuries in the last 15 games. We played with the best players every game, because we played only the league. Don’t forget that with three games to go, Arsenal was four points up from us – and that we finished 20 points behind Manchester City.

“We did a miracle, but I knew what the situation was and then I was very clear with the club [about what was needed] to become title contenders. I remember very well in the summer people talked about Tottenham as title contenders, but in my experience, it was a bit crazy to see this. To become title contenders, to become a team ready to fight to win something, you need to have a solid foundation, which means to have 14 or 15 strong players, with quality, and the other young players to develop.

“Every season, you can add two players, but two players priced £50m, £60m, £70m. In this way, it means you are signing important players who can improve the quality and the level of your team. But this is a process, guys. This is a process. People who think that you arrive and you win. This can happen for a team that are used in the past to winning.

“But if you are not used to it, it means you have to create the situation. For this reason, you need time, patience. I understand that the fans are disappointed because they can say they have had patience for a long time. I understand. But the situation is this: if you want the truth, I will tell you the truth.

“The message is always the same [to the fans]: I have never spoken about our team that this season we could be competitive, to fight to win. From the start of the season I say we are creating, we are building, we are trying to build a solid foundation because if you want to become a title contender and you want to try to win something during the season, you need to have solid foundations.

“Solid foundations mean you need to have your team, your squad, 13, 14 players strong, and then every year to put one, two important players to improve the quality. And for this reason, it means to invest £60m, £70m, £80m. In this way you improve the quality. Otherwise, if you go every season not to spend…

“In this moment we have to create that solid foundation. We need to find 13, 14 players. We are trying to create this and then to start in every season to add important players, not normal players. Normal players don’t make the difference. We need players that make the difference. Otherwise you have to go to develop a young player, then wait, you need to have patience.

“The situation at the moment is this. I always tell the truth in my life. I don’t want to create an illusion. The club knows very well what I think and the club is 100 percent, they think the same. Maybe it’s good to send this message outside through the media because maybe someone can think we can be a title contender.”

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