Rio Ferdinand is unsure whether Tottenham's players are "fully on side" with Antonio Conte's way of thinking just yet.
Spurs have only lost one Premier League match since the Italian took over from Nuno Espirito Santo back in November, but his system, which includes some relentless training sessions, can take a while to fully settle with the current crop of players.
Conte has been tipped to bring success back to Tottenham after such a long spell without a trophy, but despite this, Ferdinand is not sure whether the players have bought into his way of thinking just yet at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
These comments become even more applicable given Spurs' soul-crushing 3-2 defeat to Southampton on Wednesday evening. Tottenham took the lead through an own goal before Armando Broja equalised. Spurs then retook the lead through Son Heung-min before quick-fire goals from Mohamed Elyounoussi and Che Adams handed the Saints the three points in north London.
Speaking on BT Sport before Tottenham's defeat, former Manchester United and England defender Ferdinand said: "I don't think they are the best equipped. They still have stuff to prove.
"Are they fully on side with Conte and his tactics? Have they adapted to him, has he adapted to them and the Premier League again? There's still a lot of question marks.
"I said yesterday, I want points on the board now. The thing is, that area of the league, none of them teams are consistent. None of them are going to go on a 10-match winning run - only Liverpool and Man City can do that. I think it's up for grabs. There's no-one who is taking that top four spot yet."
Conte himself was recently asked about the fight for a top four spot, but played down that talk, with his ambition on winning the Premier League title with Tottenham in the long run.
He said this earlier in the month: "I don’t like (to be asked) about the race for the Champions League. My ambition is to win the league. Not to go to the Champions League.
"My ambition is to be competitive and to fight to win. At this moment, I know very well that the situation is different. And we are working very hard to improve that situation.
"To reduce the gap and also to (fix) the mistakes of the past, to try to find good solutions. To continue to improve."
