Harry Kane says finishing in the top four in the Premier League won’t make Tottenham a successful season, admitting Spurs are missing something as speculation about Antonio Conte’s future grows.
Spurs’ hopes of avoiding another trophy-free season evaporated within a week of an FA Cup defeat to Sheffield United and Champions League elimination against AC Milan.
Tottenham suffered a horrendous Premier League defeat to Wolves between those two eliminations and now they have failed to score in three games in a row for the first time since a three-match losing streak in April and May 2019.
With the Spurs facing a battle for a top-four spot, Kane says a 15th consecutive trophy-free season is unacceptable.
“Where we are as a club, we have to win trophies,” Kane told reporters. “The top four [being Spurs’ only target] is a consequence of the fact that we do not play as well as we want.
“Of course, this is not enough for this club. I fully understand the frustration of the fans. The top four doesn’t suit anyone at this club, especially the fans. They have the right to express their opinion.
“Last week especially just wasn’t good enough. Before the Sheffield United game, the season could have been very different.
“You go through there, you take that momentum into the league game, and that game [against Milan].
“But I feel like this loss last week drove a dagger into our hearts, and as you can see, we never recovered from it.”
Spurs’ expected two-legged goals in a 1-0 aggregate loss to Milan was just 0.91, and they have failed to win any of their last five Champions League play-off matches (D1 L4) since winning over Ajax 3-2 in the semi-finals. stage in 2019.
It has been speculated that their latest setback could spell the end of head coach Conte’s tenure at the club, as the Italian who took over Spurs could sack him before his contract expires at the end of the season.
Asked what he thinks about Conte’s future, Kane said: “It’s his decision, he will be the one to make that choice.
“All we can do as players is try to perform for him, work our hardest. This is what we do. You can’t blame the efforts of the players. We are simply missing something.
“We have already talked about the mentality and this relentless desire to be better, to be the best, to be one of the best teams in Europe. We just haven’t quite found it yet.”
147 – Tottenham Hotspur 0-0 AC Milan broke a streak of 147 consecutive home games without a goalless draw in all competitions since 0-0 against Swansea at Wembley in the Premier League in September 2017 (5 years and 173 days ago). Grey. pic.twitter.com/pnRC5R64kn
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 8, 2023