Kevin Campbell has claimed that Antonio Conte’s reaction to Mikel Arteta’s comments last week suggest Arsenal are in the Italian’s head at the moment.
The race for Champions League qualification looks set to go down to the wire this season, with Spurs sitting one place and three points behind their North London rivals, who currently occupy fourth place in the Premier League table.
Arteta and Conte were involved in a war of words while discussing the fixture list ahead of last weekend’s matches.
The Arsenal boss complained about the ‘unfair’ scheduling last week as the Gunners faced Liverpool and Aston Villa with just under 65 hours between the two fixtures (Metro).
When asked about Arteta’s comments, Conte insisted that it is ‘not right to speak about fair or unfair’ after the circumstances behind the postponement of the North London derby in January (BBC).
Phillips backed Arteta’s comments and questioned why Conte responded the way he did.
The former Arsenal striker told Football Insider: “Listen, Conte is a very experienced manager but I didn’t know what Arteta says had so much pull with him.
“If Arteta feels that the fixtures haven’t been kind to him, he’s not going to stay quiet about it, is he? He’s the manager. We’ve seen Klopp do it, we’ve seen Pep do it – they’ve all done it.
“What Arteta is doing now is just making his voice heard. I don’t mind Conte commenting on it, but I’d worry if Arteta wasn’t fighting his corner and sticking up for himself.
“Conte’s comments could suggest that Arsenal are in his head right now.”
Spurs Web Opinion
I have a hard time believing Campbell ‘didn’t know’ why Arteta’s comments irked Conte, given the circumstances in which the North London derby was called off.
Arsenal’s successful attempt to get the game postponed was certainly ‘unfair’ on Tottenham at the time. I thought Conte’s response was measured and that the Italian made the point that he wanted to.
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