Antonio Conte claims that Tottenham is playing defense like a “relegation team” and has “lost how to suffer” after suffering a second straight loss.

Tottenham led Manchester City 4-2 on Thursday night despite having a two-goal advantage at the break.

This Premier League loss came four days after a 2-0 home loss to Arsenal, a rival team from north London.

Conte stated that “we must strengthen the spirit, the cooperation, the will, the desire, and the sense of suffering.”

“Perhaps we’ve forgotten what it’s like to suffer and to realize that, if we want to win the game, we might have to stay there and endure pain like last season.”

After playing an additional game, Tottenham, who will face Fulham on Monday, is currently ranked fifth in the Premier League, five points outside the top four.

Just nine goals less than they gave up in the entire 2021–22 season have already been allowed this season (31 league goals).

Conte continued, “This is often a team that fights in the relegation zone, to concede 21 goals in the last 10 games.

“With Hugo Lloris as our goalkeeper last season, I can’t recall how many clean sheets we had, but this season we’ve allowed at least two goals in every game.

This is our midrange, our average performance, comparable to a squad fighting for its playoff life.

Conte acknowledges that there is still room for growth, but the team is still “making progress in several categories.”

Conte stated, “In other aspects, I think we have to come back like last season and to be a little bit more solid, a little bit more concentrated, a little bit more vicious.

“We made a lot of progress this season because we are scoring a lot of goals, creating lots of chances, and having much better press organization than previous season.”