Tottenham Hotspur boss, Antonio Conte has hit back at Mikel Arteta’s fixture complaints, claiming that Arsenal man cannot talk about fair and unfair after the North London Derby was postponed.
The NLD was scheduled to be played in January when Spurs were riding some good form under the Italian, but Arsenal requested a postponement as they were set to be without numerous first-team stars, despite only having one known case of COVID-19 (Premier League).
At the time, Tottenham publicly revealed they were ‘extremely surprised’ by the decision, suggesting the request had stemmed from players being unavailable rather than COVID.
Fast forward to March and Arteta has been complaining that his Arsenal side have to play on Wednesday evening and then Saturday morning this week, raising concerns over whether the same could happen once the Spurs derby is rescheduled (Independent).
Conte has now hit back at these comments, hinting Arteta cannot complain when his Arsenal side were allowed to avoid playing the NLD.
He said (Football London): “Yeah but I only want Arteta to remember the game postponed. Tottenham – Arsenal okay? If we speak about unfair. I stop.
“But In general, I think my answer is enough. Okay, yeah, it’s enough. If someone wants to speak about fair or unfair. We postponed the game, Tottenham-Arsenal, if you remember. I don’t. I don’t forget this, and I think that it’s not right to speak about fair or unfair.”
Spurs Web Opinion:
I’m not sure that Arsenal can ask to have matches postponed even without notable COVID-19 cases, only to then complain when they have a fixture pile-up later in the season. You can’t have your cake and eat it too.