Following the high of securing a 1-0 win over Manchester City and Harry Kane writing his name into the club's history books, Tottenham crashed back down to earth with an almighty bang on Saturday. Heading to Leicester looking it to make it four successive wins in all competitions, Antonio Conte's men instead left the King Power Stadium on the back of a 4-1 hammering.
The scoreline could have been so much worse for the visitors as the Foxes had multiple chances to add to their four goals and they also saw a Harvey Barnes goal disallowed midway through the second half. Tottenham, on the other hand, did nothing of note to trouble Danny Ward in the Leicester goal and the hosts never appeared to be in any real danger of throwing away the points after doing so at the death in the same fixture 13 months ago.
Given Tottenham's Champions League aspirations, with the team in a promising position to attack what is left of this campaign, the game at Leicester represented a real opportunity for them to carry on their recent momentum and register another victory before they take on AC Milan at the San Siro on Tuesday evening.
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While Brendan Rodgers' team did come into the game in confident mood following a 4-2 win over Aston Villa, they have been far from their best this season and have found themselves nervously looking over their shoulder at the drop zone.
Tottenham's defeat at the home of the 2015/16 Premier League champions bared similarities to what happened at the end of February 12 months ago. Causing a major shock after bouncing back from three successive Premier League defeats to secure a thrilling 3-2 win at title favourites Man City, Spurs unfortunately followed it up with a 1-0 loss at relegation strugglers Burnley.
It was a result that left Conte questioning his own future just over three months on from taking on the job. Tottenham's inconsistency had really riled the head coach, especially after securing a win at the Etihad Stadium that looked like it would turn their season around. While the Lilywhites did manage to solve their consistency woes in what remained of the season as they pipped Arsenal to fourth, the same issues have reared their head again this campaign.
The consistency question very much remains for Conte and Tottenham after what happened in those dismal 90 minutes at Leicester. A defeat of that magnitude is far from ideal preparation going into their Champions League showdown against AC Milan, although it should hopefully deliver an immediate response from the players as they bid to get on track right away.
Speaking to the media in his post-match press conference, Cristian Stellini, who took on the duties with Conte only just returning to N17 on Thursday after his surgery in Italy, discussed Tottenham's defeat and why they collapsed after initially taking the lead through Rodrigo Bentancur.
"I think today something changed after we scored," said the Italian. "We turned off and in this league you can't turn off. You have to be consistent in all parts of the game. We struggled a lot after the first goal. We're disappointed for that."
On their inconsistency, he added: "Not an explanation because if you know what happens, you can change this. It happened also last season when we beat Manchester City we lost to Burnley.
"To be consistent is a long process, a mental process. You have to be better mentally, better in the approach. Today the approach was not bad. But after we scored the goal, something changed.
"We're a team. The team has to change something. Not only individually. It's about the desire. You want to play this game, it's about recovering energy mentally.
"When you play a team like Man City maybe you use all the energy you have. To recover this energy, it's like a battle and how much this battle can contain. You have to recreate the same energy. To have this battle bigger you have to work. And we have to do it."
Tottenham very much have to do it with so much to play for before the campaign comes to a close in early June. Still in the top-four mix despite their setback as they have 15 league games remaining, a place in the latter stages of the Champions League is up for grabs and their FA Cup fifth round tie away at Sheffield United represents a real chance for them to go far in the competition and end their trophy hoodoo.
However, none of the above will be possible if their consistency troubles continue to plague them going forward. Bouncing back from that dire evening at Turf Moor last February, Conte and Tottenham must do the same again if this season is to be deemed a success.
If not, it could be a long few months ahead.
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