Conte’s outburst leaves Levy with decision to make
LONDON: Antonio Conte’s astonishing rant at his “selfish” Tottenham players and the culture of the club leaves the Spurs hierarchy with a difficult decision to make. Conte’s days in north London already seemed numbered prior to his scathing outburst after Saturday’s 3-3 draw at bottom-of-the-table Southampton. The Italian is out of contract at the end of the season, with neither side keen on extending his stay into a third campaign, but now he could face the sack during the forthcoming international break.
With Tottenham desperately trying to hold on to fourth place in the Premier League and the riches of a return to the Champions League next season, chairman Daniel Levy must decide whether their final 10 games would be more profitable with Conte removed from the equation.
Conte arrived at Spurs in November 2021 with the reputation of a serial winner. The 53year-old won league titles at each of his previous three spells in charge of Juventus, Chelsea and Inter Milan. Despite his success, the former Italian international’s time at all three clubs ended in acrimony. The pattern is set to continue at Spurs but without Conte ending the club’s 15year wait to win a trophy.
Tottenham were dumped out of the both the FA Cup and Champions League within a week earlier this month. Conte has only recently returned to the touchline after a spell back in Italy recovering from gallbladder surgery and his patience ran out after seeing his side throw away a 3-1 lead with just 13 minutes remaining at St Mary’s. “It’s the right moment to speak because I think that after this performance, for me this is unacceptable,” said Conte. “I see selfish players, I see players that don’t want to help each other and don’t put their heart.”
Conte was even more cutting when pushed on the reasons for Tottenham’s continued failure to succeed under a string of different managers. “Tottenham’s story is this. Twenty years there is the owner and they never won something,” he added. “Why? Because they are used to it here, they are used to it. They don’t play for something important. They don’t want to play under pressure, they don’t want to play under stress. It is easy in this way.” Amid such a crisis it is hard to believe that Conte’s men still sit fourth in the Premier League table. But they are just two points ahead of Newcastle having played two games more than the Magpies.