Jase

To be fair, though he was supposedly back in training last week, he didn't make the matchday squad, did he?

Sticking to the task is one thing but not putting in the energy and intensity in the performance is another.

GREAT TIMING!!!

Yes, Spurs have the potential but how long more can people play that up? For years, people have been talking about Spurs having the potential, building something good, being one of the best English sides but what do they have to show for all that? Nothing. No Premier League title. No Champions League title. Not even the FA Cup or League Cup. Just some good results in Europe and putting the pressure on in the league. There's really no point if you have the quality but don't back it up with trophy(ies), even with one of the domestic cups. This Spurs team is on borrowed time. If they don't win something real soon, it won't take long for their big players to leave (Walker chose to leave them last summer and has already won 2 trophies. might even end up with 3!) and hell, Pochettino might even be tempted to leave if one of the bigger clubs come calling.

He may have the track record but is he capable of turning the current situation around? Is he motivated to do so? The signs are pointing to 'NO'. So, why persist with him? Even you said he's been poor this season. If he has been trying different things out to change our form, to improve our results but to no avail, then think we as fans might still be patient with him. But he's not. He keeps on doing the same things that haven't worked much this season and expect different results. He's become so rigid, stubborn and disconnected. Was still doing OK till December, despite some inconsistencies and problems but everything suddenly went south the second we hit 2018.

This thread has taken quite a turn it has to be said.

Why? Why give Conte another year when it's blatantly obvious that he doesn't want to be here? Why persist with him when he's not getting through to the players anymore? Honestly, I don't know what's more surprising - the fact that he's still in the job or there haven't been any stories about his job being under threat. I don't wish anything bad on others but it's a stark contrast to say 6-7 years ago.

It's not even just about keeping possession when under pressure, which we are rubbish at as pointed above, but also the pressing. I mean look at Spurs v Juventus. The latter have been piss poor but Spurs haven't allowed them to settle into any rhythm with proper, cohesive pressing. If it was us, we would have sat off them and give them all the time in the world to pass the ball around. We are always more reactive than proactive in such matches and it's quite annoying and infuriating that others often take the latter approach and do it well while we don't.

Think it's down to the manager's and players' mentality more than anything. I mean generally, Real Madrid/Barcelona/Bayern Munich don't have much competition in their league and yet, they have been the 3 main contenders in the Champions League for the last few years. PSG aren't a team. They are just a collected bunch of players.

PSG are useless. Spent all that money and still continue to flop on the big stage. Unai Emery is a fraud too.

Handled it badly? If Conte had really done that, we would have likely gone off the rails from January onward and lost the title. People often overlook the fact that Conte managed to keep Costa on board and group dynamic good for the last few months of last season. Maybe sending the message to say he's no longer wanted wasn't the best of ideas but even if Conte hadn't done that, there's no guarantee Costa would have stayed on, given how much he wanted to go back to Madrid.

Christ! People still going on about that? Let's just pretend as if Costa hadn't wanted to leave!

So, it's basically a non-story then? They may have some issues behind closed doors but it's hardly new that manager and player don't acknowledge one another when the latter gets taken off.

You know things are really when Tomo starts saying things like that...

Did Conte even attempt to acknowledge him?

Mourinho defended us in his post-match presser last night. We have hit a new low...

Honestly, fuck football! Fuck 2018!

Pretty sure if Conte was fluent in English, he would be "fighting" with people every week, like what he used to do at Juventus.

Lots of lesser sides sit deep and defend against Man City and normally, you don't see them play at a lethargic pace, do you? We ourselves have done it in the past and we rarely played with such a sloth-esque manner. I used that as an example to merely highlight the lazy manner the players were going about things, not what might or might not have happened from the pressing.

He has a point though. The players may have followed Conte's tactics but there was absolutely no intensity, no energy whatsoever about the performance. The coward tactical approach has been the main talking point and rightly so but the lack of desire of players to even take responsibility and make things happen shouldn't be dismissed. I mean, just look at Fabregas' (who last week on Twitter said "it's time to stand up and be counted") attempt to close down the ball...he just walked to the person on the ball. Is that what we really want to see from our players?! Also, another thing on Conte, he moaned several times about having little time to prepare to face City in the reverse fixture. For this game, he had a week to prepare while City don't and the damage limitation, coward approach was the best he could come up with?!