Conte: Klopp knows we were better than them

ANTONIO CONTE has delivered a cutting response to Jurgen Klopp’s assessment of his Tottenham team as defensive and unadventurous. Conte claimed Klopp was searching for ‘an alibi’ to cover his own failings after Liverpool drew with Spurs on Saturday, and advised him to limit his post-match observations to views on his own team in future. He also made reference to their solitary Premier League title and said it was easier to win the Champions League. ‘Jurgen is an intelligent person,’ said Conte. ‘He’s very clever. He was a bit frustrated after the game. At the same time, for us, for a top coach and for every coach, it’s important to learn after the game to be focused on your team, not your opponent. ‘To be focused on your opponent means you want to find an excuse or alibi because your job didn’t work or something was wrong.’ Klopp riled the Italian, saying ‘I don’t like this kind of football’ and that a ‘world-class’ Tottenham team ‘should do more for the game’. The Liverpool boss tried to back-pedal on Monday by admitting he had been wrong, but the damage was done. Conte said: ‘To win the league in England is not simple. As Pep Guardiola said, Liverpool won one league in 30 years, maybe. It shows it’s not simple. Maybe it’s easier to win the Champions League than the league in England, where you have to face monsters. ‘We analysed the game (against Liverpool) and the team that deserved to win was Tottenham. In this game, I think Klopp understood he gained one point — not lost two points.’ Conte was in a mischievous mood as he prepared for his first north London derby, claiming his team had been unfairly treated when the original fixture was postponed at Arsenal’s request in January. ‘It was very strange that our game was postponed for Covid and Arsenal didn’t have one player with Covid,’ said Conte. In fact, there was at least one Arsenal player ruled out by the Covid protocols and Mikel Arteta was without other members of his squad due to injuries and the Africa Cup of Nations. Tottenham were furious because when they suffered a Covid outbreak one month earlier they were forced to forfeit their Europa Conference League tie against Rennes — which resulted in them being eliminated from the competition. ‘We lost a game 3-0 because the Premier League didn’t want to move our game when we had nine or 10 players with Covid,’ Conte added.