An enraged Antonio Conte says his Tottenham players are “selfish” and the club “can change the manager but the situation cannot change” in a scathing attack on the ownership.
The Spurs boss said his team “don’t want to help each other” after a 3-3 draw against Southampton on Saturday.
“Tottenham’s story is this: they’ve had this owner for 20 years and have never won anything. Why?” Conte stated.
Tottenham had led by two goals at St Mary’s before conceding twice in 15 minutes.
“The fault is solely with the club, or with every manager who stays here,” Conte said. “I’ve seen the managers who were on Tottenham’s bench. You run the risk of disrupting the manager’s image and protecting the other situation at all times.
“Until now, I’ve tried to conceal the situation, but not now because, again, I don’t want to see what I’ve seen today because it’s unacceptable, both for me and for the fans.”
Tottenham Hotspur news, analysis, and fan opinions
Receive Spurs news alerts
Listen to the most recent Far Post podcast.
Since the ownership group led by Daniel Levy took over the club in 2001, Tottenham has only won one trophy: the League Cup in 2008.
They’ve had 11 different managers in that time, including three since Mauricio Pochettino’s departure in 2019, who led them to the Champions League final before being fired six months later.
Spurs are out of all cup competitions this season, having been knocked out of the FA Cup by Sheffield United before being eliminated from the Champions League by AC Milan, and Conte believes it is time for the club and players to take responsibility.
“Not just the club, the manager, and the employees. The players must be involved in this situation because it is time to change if Tottenham are to change “He stated. “If they want to keep going in this direction, they can change managers, a lot of managers, but the situation will not change. Trust me on this.
“Perhaps something changed in the previous games. But we’ve been used to it for a long time here. The club is in charge of the transfer market, as are all of the coaches who have stayed here. What about the players? Who are the players? Where are the participants?
“In my experience, if you want to be competitive, if you want to fight, you must improve this aspect. And I can tell you that this aspect is currently extremely low. And I only see 11 players who play for themselves.”
Conte explained why this is the case at Tottenham: “They’re used to it because they’re used to it here. They’re not playing for anything important here. They don’t want to play under pressure or in stressful situations.”
Spurs are fourth in the Premier League and had the chance to leapfrog Manchester United into third with a win over Southampton, but Conte said after the game that if their current form continues, they will be lucky to qualify for the Champions League at all.
“There are ten games remaining, and some believe we can compete. Fight for what, with this spirit, attitude, and dedication? What? For seventh, eighth, 10th place?
“We have 11 players who will take the field. I see selfish players, players who do not want to help each other and do not put their hearts into it “He stated.
“I’m not used to being in this position. I’m very upset, and everyone must accept responsibility.”
Conte stated on Thursday that he does not expect to be fired by the club, despite comments he made following Tottenham’s European exit that the club may decide to fire him before his contract expires in the summer.
He called the comments “a joke,” but added that the club is “worse” than last season, when they finished fourth, just ahead of London rivals Arsenal.
“I think it’s much better to go into the problem, because the problem is that we demonstrated once again that we are not a team,” Conte said.
“Until today, I preferred to keep this situation hidden and to try to speak, to improve the spirit, the situation, with words, with a variety of situations.
“If I compare last season to this season, we need to improve, but we are now worse in this regard. When you are not working as a team, anything can happen at any time. Today is the final scenario.
“It is the most important aspect of being a team. To realize that we play for the badge.”