Livid Tottenham manager Antonio Conte has laid into his "selfish" players after drawing 3-3 with bottom dwellers Southampton on Saturday - and even more strikingly slammed his boss, Daniel Levy.
Spurs squandered a 3-1 lead at St Mary's, missing the chance to go four points clear of Newcastle in the race for Champions League football. James Ward-Prowse's 93rd-minute penalty snatched a huge result for Southampton in their fight for survival, as former Arsenal star Theo Walcott had pulled a goal back shortly after Ivan Perisic looked to have wrapped up the win for Tottenham.
Conte was left furious with his players for their late collapse, labelling them "selfish" in an extraordinary post-match rant - even for his highly-strung standards. "I think it's better to go into the problem, we are not a team," the Italian bemoaned. "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."
It wasn't just Tottenham's players who took the brunt of Conte's fury, but the club hierarchy led by head honcho Levy. "They're used to it here," the 53-year-old, whose contract with Spurs notably expires at the end of this season, continued. "They don't play for something important.
"They don't want to play under pressure. They don't want to play under stress. Tottenham's story is this. 20 years there is the owner and they never won something. Why?"
On attempting to salvage their miserable season over the final stretch of games in the Premier League, Conte declared: "Now there are 10 games to go and someone thinks we can fight with this attitude, with this spirit, for what the seventh, eight place? What? I am not used to fighting for this. It's every one's responsibility."
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He added: "We play to make our fans proud of us. You have to have desire. The fire in your eyes. If you have this you don't have this you don't go out in the FA Cup. Here we are used to 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."
Defender Eric Dier also spoke post-match, telling Premier League Productions: "There will be lots of ups and downs for everybody fighting for top four and relegation. It will definitely go down to the last couple of weeks of the season. We need to find some consistency."
Tottenham will remain in fourth place during next week's international break, but Newcastle have two games in hand on them and only need to make up two points thanks to their superior goal difference. While Liverpool also eye a late charge into the Champions League places, there's huge pressure on Spurs to get over the line before May.
Whether Conte is still in charge to reap the rewards or sift through the wreckage is another matter.
