Spurs bank on Conte cooling off but his meltdown should worry them

On Saturday night, flushed with the glow of the stunning 3-2 win at Manchester City, Antonio Conte declared that his Tottenham players were the best group he had worked with in terms of attitude. On Tuesday lunchtime, the manager cut a relaxed and contented figure at a media briefing, suggesting that his relentless messaging about mentality, the need to suffer, to live and breathe the job – particularly the lows – were getting through.

To those in attendance, it seemed like a turning point in Conte’s near four-month tenure. After the home Premier League losses to Southampton and Wolves, a penny had dropped with the players and Conte wanted to throw all his energy behind the shift in momentum.

Now this. On the stereotypical miserable night at Burnley on Wednesday, Spurs and Conte reverted to type; the team following a thrilling high with another fist-eatingly frustrating defeat – their fourth in five league games, going back to the one at Chelsea on 23 January – and Conte overcome by darkness and rage.

Perhaps it was the pre-match hope that made it even worse but, in a remarkable display of soul-barring, Conte said that he could not go on this way. He would not close his eyes and continue to collect his massive salary while sure-footed strides forward proved elusive. “Maybe in this moment … I don’t know … I’m not so good to improve the situation,” he said.

It was the latest in a long line of eruptions and the first thing to say is that Conte has form for being extremely outspoken after matches, when he feels the blood run hot. It has tended to be after losses – remember NS Mura in the Europa Conference League or the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final at Chelsea – but, in a sense, he did something similar after the