Antonio Conte went berserk with his Tottenham Hotspur players after their Champions League hopes were dealt a huge blow. Spurs appeared to have brushed Southampton aside with 14 minutes remaining when Ivan Perisic scored to make it 3-1.
However, the Saints fought back from two goals down and converted a 93rd-minute equaliser to sicken the away dugout. With Newcastle United at Nottingham Forest winning 24 hours earlier, Tottenham surrendered valuable ground in the Champions League race.
The Magpies remain two points behind Conte’s side but also boast games in hand against West Ham United and Brighton - putting them firmly in the driving seat for a top-four finish. Failure to qualify for the Champions League would be a disaster for the 53-year-old, whose contract expires at the end of the campaign.
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The possibility of him extending his stay diminished at full-time as the fiery Italian ripped into his “selfish” players and Spurs as a club. An incensed Conte weaponised the Southampton defeat and the shock FA Cup exit to Sheffield United to tear Tottenham to shreds.
“For me this is unacceptable,” he blasted. “We are winning 3-1, in control and conceding two goals. I think it’s better to go into the problem, we are not a team. We are 11 players that go into the pitch.
“I see selfish players, players that don’t want to help each other and don’t put their heart (into it). This season compared to last, now we are worse in this aspect. When you are not a team you cannot improve.
“The fire in your eyes. If you have this you don’t go out in the FA Cup. Here (at Tottenham) we are used to this (not winning trophies) for a long time. The club has the responsibility for the transfer market, the coach has the responsibility. But the players, where are the players? I see only 11 players that play for themselves.”
In an explosive attack, Conte also suggested Spurs players cannot cope under pressure - and would prefer an “easy” life. There was also a defence of his predecessors, hinting that the problems in North London lie deeper than the succession of managers.
“They don’t play for something important,” he added. “They don’t want to play under pressure, they don’t want to play under stress.
“It is easy in this way. Tottenham’s story is this, 20 years there is the owner and they never won something but why? The fault is only for the club, or for every manager that stays here. I have seen the managers that Tottenham had on the bench.
“You risk disrupting the figure of the manager and to protect the other situation in every moment. Until now I tried to hide the situation but now, no, because I repeat I don’t want to see what I have seen today.”
“Everyone has to take responsibility. Not only the club, the manager and the staff. The players have to be involved in this situation because it is time to change this situation if Tottenham want to change. They can change the manager, a lot of managers, but the situation cannot change. Believe me.”
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