Antonio Conte has refused to criticise the Premier League’s decision of their scheduling of Tottenham Hotspur’s fixtures against Arsenal and Burnley.
Spurs face the Gunners in the north London derby at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Thursday evening in a match that has huge significance in the race for a top four finish.
The fixture was originally scheduled to be played in January, only for Arsenal to request for the match to be suspended on Covid grounds, with Mikel Arteta’s side potentially missing up to 13 senior players despite only one being absent due to the virus (The Sun).
Due to the rescheduling, it means that Spurs have a quick turnaround considering they are set to host Burnley in N17 on Sunday lunchtime.
Conte was unhappy with Arteta’s comments in March about a potential Premier League fixture pile-up (Guardian) for his side and did not resort to the same standards as the Spaniard at this afternoon’s press conference.
He told Football.London: “If I complain about it, I’m like other coaches in the past. You remember Arteta did and I said coaches shouldn’t complain. So I can’t now.
“It’s difficult sometimes to accept Premier League decisions, but if the club accepted it I have to. A big club have to pay attention. Before the game you don’t think this situation causes you this type of trouble, but afterwards you are angry and it’s too late. You need to be angry before. If you want to win you have to take care about all the details.”
SpursWeb Opinion
Conte is right to channel his frustration at the match rather than the Premier League, Spurs need to be fully focused on the job at hand and there is no bigger match in our calendar than beating Arsenal – regardless of what is at stake.
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