Antonio Conte hit back at Jurgen Klopp this week after the Liverpool manager aimed a dig at the type of football his Tottenham side played during the two teams' 1-1 draw at Anfield last Saturday.
Heung-Min Son's scored an early second-half goal in the clash which threatened to bring a first Premier League home defeat of the season for Liverpool, however Luis Diaz levelled things up late on.
The result still opened the door for Manchester City to go three points clear at the top of the Premier League the following day, and Klopp was left visibly annoyed at the way in which Spurs stopped his side from securing three crucial points.
In his post-match press conference, the German said: “I don’t like this kind of football. I think they’re world-class, and I think they should do more for the game. They play a world-class team, they sit back. They drew against us now, they won against [Manchester] City. So the game plan works for these games but they’re still fifth, so that’s how it is.”
Although Klopp has since admitted he was wrong to criticise Tottenham’s approach, Conte was asked about his comments and the Italian took the opportunity to remind Klopp that it’s “important to focus on his own team.”
In Tuesday's press conference ahead of this week’s North London Derby, Conte said: “We analysed the game the day after, and for sure if there was a team that deserved to win, it was Tottenham not Liverpool. In this game, I think Klopp understood he gained one point not lost two points.
For a top coach, it's important to be focused on your team, not your opponents. To be focused on your opponents, means you want to find an excuse or alibi because it means something in your job was wrong.”
Conte continued by highlighting his side’s February defeat to Burnley in which he took full responsibility for the loss: “If you remember this season it always happened to me, when I was disappointed after a bad result.
"When we lost against Burnley, if you remember I gave to myself the fault about the defeat. Sometimes we're a bit frustrated, especially when you arrive at the end of the season and you understand a bad game and result can change the target for you.
This is a good chance for me and all the coaches to learn that during the game you never speak about your opponents. It's important to be focused on your team and the moments you can do better. And your own problems.”
Although the roles were reversed, that Burnley game had eerie similarities with the fixture that played out at Anfield. In the 1-0 loss, Tottenham dominated the ball, posting a possession average of 64 per cent - that’s the exact same as what Liverpool posted on Saturday evening.
Like the Reds though, Spurs couldn’t break their robust opponents down, leading to what was a damaging result to their Champions League-chasing aspirations. Conte though was critical of himself and not Burnley in the wake of the defeat.
“I came in to try to improve the situation in Tottenham but maybe in this moment, I don’t know, I’m not so good to improve the situation. It’s very frustrating because I know we’re working hard, working a lot and trying to get the best out of every single player. When this type of situation happens, maybe there is something wrong. I don’t want to close my eyes, I want to take my responsibility if I have the responsibility. I am open, I am open for every decision because I want to help Tottenham.”
