The Tottenham manager is never shy when it comes to saying exactly what he is thinking and Sunday’s defeat by Liverpool was no different as the Italian seemed to take a shot at Jurgen Klopp
There is clearly no love lost between Tottenham boss Antonio Conte and Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp if recent comments are anything to go by.
The two teams met once again on Sunday afternoon in north London, with the Reds running out 2-1 winners to register their first away win of the league season. A brace from Mohamed Salah was enough to see off the hosts, despite Harry Kane‘s impressive strike 20 minutes from full-time.
Conte would have undoubtedly been disappointed with the result considering how out of form Liverpool have been on the road this term, while a Spurs win would have also been an ideal response after Klopp had some choice words over their playing style in the aftermath of a clash last season.
Back in May, following a 1-1 draw at Anfield which severely dented Liverpool’s title hopes, Klopp blasted Conte’s playing style. “I am sorry, I am the wrong person to ask about because I don’t like this kind of football,” he conceded.
“But that is my personal problem. I think they are world-class and I think they should do more for the game.”
During Conte’s pre-match media duties ahead of the most recent contest, the Italian insisted he was holding no grudges going into Sunday’s game. By the time the full-time whistle had gone and Spurs were resigned to defeat, he changed his tune.
“Before I answer the [first] question, Jurgen was happy with the way that we played tonight?”, Conte sarcastically asked reporters. “Yeah? It was important to know his opinion.
“Jurgen is a really good coach but at the end tonight we are talking about a defeat and I’m happy with the game that we played at Anfield. The final result was 1-1 and it was better.”
The Tottenham boss actually earned himself a yellow card shortly after Kane’s goal for furiously slapping the ball out of the hands of Liverpool’s assistant coach Pep Lijnders.
In an attempt to try and ease some of the bad feelings, Conte did come out and say he has “great respect for Jurgen Klopp and his assistant coach.”
He also went on to claim the result was ‘unfair’ on his Spurs players. “It is difficult to explain the defeat tonight, we deserved much more but also after the first half in the dressing room I was happy with the desire and what we did,” Conte explained.
“We put a lot of pressure on Liverpool and were 2-0 down but we didn’t know why. In the second half, we played really well. Their goalkeeper made good saves and we hit the post and the crossbar. I think the result is unfair.”
mirror.co.uk