CONTE RETURNS FIRE AT JURGEN
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 noted their one Premier League title and said it was easier to win the Champions League. ‘Jurgen is an intelligent person,’ said Conte. ‘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 that, after the game, it’s important 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. Anyone who knows me knows very well I want to win every game. ‘I try to transfer this thought to my players and when I stay in a club, my aspiration and desire is to fight to win the title. ‘To win the league in England is not simple. ‘As Pep Guardiola said, Liverpool won one league in 30 years, maybe. Maybe sometimes it’s easier to win Champions League or Europa League or other competitions than the league in England, where you have to face monsters. ‘After the game against Liverpool, my players were disappointed because they felt the possibility to win the game. ‘We analysed the game and if there was a team that deserved to win and created the chances to win, it was Tottenham not
Liverpool. In this game, I think Klopp understood he gained one point not lost two points.’ Conte, preparing for his first North London derby, claims his team were 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 Covid protocols but Mikel Arteta was without others due to injuries and international duty. Tottenham were furious because, when they suffered a Covid outbreak, they were forced to forfeit their Europa Conference League tie against Rennes. ‘We lost a game 3-0 because the Premier League didn’t want to move our game when we had nine or ten players with Covid,’ said Conte.