The Italian now believes that his side could not be better prepared for their crucial Champions League clash with Marseille
At half-time during Spurs’ comeback win at the Vitality Stadium, all the criticism that had been levelled at Antonio Conte’s Tottenham team in the previous week appeared to be justified. For 45 minutes Spurs had looked lethargic, short of ideas, lacking in drive or purpose.
Gary O’Neill’s Bournemouth had exploited their visitors’ listlessness to perfection, first taking the lead through Kiefer Moore’s smart finish to an insistent breakaway, then adding to it when the Welshman brushed aside half of Tottenham’s defence to head his second.
This was a Spurs team, the consensus suggested, that was critically short of creativity and class, with too many of its players simply not up to the job. The restlessness in the visitors’ section was no more than an extension of the boos that had greeted the home defeat by Newcastle the previous weekend.
Forty-five minutes after the widespread condemnation, however, Tottenham had turned things around completely, orchestrating the perfect comeback to win the game at the last. Which implied Conte had delivered one heck of a half-time team talk.