Antonio Conte delivered another brutal assessment of his Tottenham side after they were comfortably beaten by Chelsea in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final, leaving the Italian with it all to do if Spurs are to reach the Wembley showpiece.
Conte branded Spurs a 'middle team' and insisted the level of the squad had 'dropped a lot' in what is a damning verdict of a group of players he only inherited from Nuno Espirito Santo in November.
Spurs struggled to put up much of a fight against their fierce rivals – and Conte's former employers – at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday, leaving one of the club's most realistic chances to win silverware this season hanging by a thread and the Italian despondent.
Antonio Conte gave a brutually honest assessment of his Tottenham team on Wednesday
He said after the 2-0 defeat: 'I know the situation, it is very clear in this moment there is an important gap. We have to try to fight to stay in the league in a good position, but if we think we are close, I think we are not in the right way.
'It was a difficult game, difficult from the start, Chelsea showed to be much better than us. If you compare the two teams there is not a comparison. We are talking about a team ready to win - today we have seen the difference between the two teams. We are a team in the middle.
'This game confirmed what I thought about the difference between the teams. In the last years the level of Tottenham has dropped a lot. There is a lot of work to do, in this moment, it is very difficult to understand which part you take to improve because there is a lot of situations to improve. We need so much time, and patience.
Conte described Tottenham as a 'middle' team following years of decline in north London
'We have to be humble, to understand the situation at the moment and continue to work to improve our players, then we will see. It is not simple to say go in the transfer market, in January it won't be easy and now the most important thing is to be focused and work to improve.
'I am always very honest with my players, we have to clap the performance of Chelsea. I like to tell the truth and with a good lie you don't go anywhere. We have to try to change this situation, slowly, slowly.'
It is not the first time Conte has levelled criticism at his Spurs players and it will likely not be the last time, either.
So what does Conte need to do to bridge the gap to England's top teams? Sportsmail analyses a few key areas and issues that desperately need addressing.
Conte needs timeHe's stressed it before and he'll likely stress it again – if he's to achieve success at White Hart Lane, he need time – and plenty of it – to do so.
When Conte arrived at the beginning of November, he inherited a group of players devoid of hope, confidence and were in complete freefall following a short, but disastrous reign under Nuno.
It meant Conte had no pre-season with the players which he stresses it vitally important to get his ideas across while being able to implement a philosphy in the months building up to a season.
Conte called on supporters and club management to show patience as he rebuilds the team
The Italian needs time to implement his ideas and footballing phisophy on Spurs' players
It's a minor miracle that Conte has managed to go unbeaten in the Premier League with this group of players, if you take into consideration exactly where Spurs were when he took over.
Conte has also instilled a hard-working mentality into a group of players that would run 100km on average during a Premier League match under Nuno's watch – now, they're running 114km collectively.
And while Spurs face a huge uphill battle to overturn the semi-final, there is still a small chance of forcing extra-time in the return leg at home.
But thinking longer-term, Conte needs time to turn Spurs' fortunes around – he's only been in the job two months.
Defensive cover after Tanganga disasterclassWhile Japhet Tanganga has shown he can operate on the right side of a three-man backline, the same can not be said for when he plays on the left.
The Spurs academy graduate showed an alarming lack of experience against the reigning champions of Europe at Stamford Bridge, with both his mistakes leading to goals.
The blame can be laid at Tanganga's feet for the result but that's not to say he has no future at the club. Far from it. But the performance did show how light in depth Spurs are in defence –
