‘He complains a lot’ – Conte hits back at Arteta after Spurs beat Arsenal

Tottenham head coach Antonio Conte has advised Mikel Arteta to focus on managing Arsenal after the Gunners boss lamented the officiating in his side’s 3-0 defeat in the north London derby.

Spurs moved within one point of fourth place in the Premier League tabe courtesy of a double from Harry Kane and Heung-min Son’s strike early in the second half.

Conte’s men took a two-goal lead into the half time break at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium after capitalising on a flashpoint in the encounter when Rob Holding was sent off after picking up two bookings in quick succession.

The Arsenal defender, already fortunate to escape without earlier cautions, was later carded twice for pulling Son back and then catching the South Korean in the face with his forearm.

The decision of referee Paul Tierney angered Arteta after the match, with the Spanish manager insisting he would be suspended by the FA if he gave his true opinion on the matter (Football Daily).

And in response, Conte has told Arteta to tone down on the complaints by focusing more on his role of guiding Arsenal instead of worrying about the officials’ work

Conte said (via Football.London): “He complains a lot. He has to focus more on his team. He has to focus more on his work. He has to continue to work because he’s very good. To hear someone complain all the time is not so good.

“At Liverpool do you hear me complain about Fabinho and all the fouls? No. He can take my advice if he wants, but if not I don’t care.

“He complained about the fixtures and that was after Arsenal had an unbelievable postponement with just one Covid case. Now we’re playing at 12pm on Sunday and they don’t play until Monday. We can’t always complain.”

Spurs Web Opinion

Arteta is understandably frustrated after seeing his team picked apart in a crucial game regardless of what is at stake, but he really cannot have any complaints.

Holding committed at least four challenges worthy of yellow cards on their own and it would have been a travesty had he survived more time on that pitch without punishment.

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