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Antonio Conte has clarified to the Tottenham board that his furious outburst was aimed purely at the players and not the owner or the chairman.
It is business as usual at Tottenham despite an extraordinary rant in which Conte called his Spurs players “selfish” after his side threw away a two-goal lead at bottom side Southampton.
He also appeared to attack the club’s ownership but it is understood Conte’s clarification to the board pointed out he asked why only the club and managers take responsibility for not winning while the players get “alibis”.
Players and staff are currently on a pre-scheduled two days off and will report back to the training ground on Tuesday, which would have been the case regardless of the result.
There has been no public reaction from the players in response to Conte’s comments as yet, with Cristian Romero and Pedro Porro the only players to have posted on social media since the outburst.
It is believed Conte wants to be sacked following the Italian’s rant, while Jamie Redknapp feels the Italian’s position is becoming untenable.
Conte’s Spurs contract expires this summer and it was reported earlier this month that Tottenham chairman, Daniel Levy is under huge pressure to reappoint Mauricio Pochettino as Spurs manager, with several players and staff pleading with the Argentine to return and reinvigorate the club.
Tottenham’s collapse at St Mary’s capped off a miserable March in which they were dumped out of both the FA Cup and the Champions League to leave them trophyless since 2008.
This was supposed to be a season when Spurs built on the progress made last season, but it has been a disappointing campaign and the latest low point was throwing away a 3-1 lead at Southampton on Saturday.
That appeared to be the final straw for Conte and he did not hold back in his post-match press conference. Conte has consistently told reporters he has been honest with the board, telling them what needs to be done for the club to take that next big step.
It was clear on Saturday that he is frustrated that his players often appear to get a free pass when it comes to criticism in the media but questioning their commitment could be a dangerous game despite the fact many Spurs fans think there are players at the club who are just not good enough.
Conte can point to injury problems as part of the reason for what’s gone wrong this season. Serious injuries to Hugo Lloris and more importantly Rodrigo Bentancur have not helped but every manager has to put up with players being out.
He can also point to the fact that last season’s Golden Boot winner Heung-min Son has scored just six times this season.
Harry Kane is always going to get you goals but Conte knows a successful team cannot rely on just one key player no matter how good he is.
Any review of Conte’s own performance this season has to acknowledge it has been a very tough campaign for him on a personal level. Richarlison arrived for big money from Everton, Yves Bissouma was a key player at Brighton and Conte wanted Ivan Perisic, but despite all that you could argue the most successful signing from last summer has been back-up goalkeeper Fraser Forster.
For all the money that has been spent, the defence looks woefully lacking in quality and when first-choice centre-back targets were unavailable last summer, Clement Lenglet was brought in on loan and he has failed to convince.
Fans often blame the club’s leadership for the fact Spurs have won just one major trophy during Levy’s time, but previous managers – plus Conte – are also to blame, especially when it comes to questionable team selection in major semi-finals and finals.
Just when Spurs fans thought they were heading for a relaxing two weeks off during the international break, it’s all suddenly all doom and gloom again.
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