Furious Antonio Conte SAVES his ‘SELFISH’ players from Tottenham, claiming they play as 11 people

Antonio Conte unleashed a savage verbal assault on his Tottenham failures after watching them give up a two-goal lead to draw at Southampton.

Conte called them selfish, accused them of lacking ‘fire in the eyes’, admitted the collective spirit had receded since last season and got into trouble with the blame culture within Spurs.

In a searing 10-minute tirade, the Italian claimed this was the reason they haven’t won a trophy in 15 years, insisting it wasn’t the fault of chairman Daniel Levy or the coaching series.

“They’re used to it here,” Conte said after a 3-3 draw at St Mary’s. They don’t play for something important. They don’t want to play under pressure. They don’t want to play under stress. It’s easy this way. The story of Tottenham is this.

‘I said I wanted to see the fire and I haven’t seen it. I said I want to see the fire in their eyes, in their hearts. I want to see the right spirit. Not only in training, but on the field because here the difference is made.

‘Until now, I try to hide the situation, but there are 10 games left and some people think we can fight. Fight for what? With this spirit, this attitude, this commitment? That? For seventh, eighth, tenth place?

‘I’m not used to being in this position. I’m really upset, and everyone has to take responsibility. Not only the club, the coach and the staff. The players have to be involved in this situation because it is time to change this situation if Tottenham wants to change.

‘If they want to continue like this, they can change coaches, many coaches, but the situation cannot change. Believe me.’

For 20 years, Conte claimed, owners and various managers, including serial winners like himself and José Mourinho, had taken the blame, but the players had always been excused.

“You’re finding an alibi, another alibi,” Conte replied when asked if uncertainty about his own future was part of the problem. ‘You try to find an excuse for the players. OK, keep doing this, to find an excuse for the players. You only do this!

‘Excuses for the players. “Maybe it’s my future, then we lost confidence, they lost their spirit, they lost being a team.” excuses excuses Excuse me. Try to protect them every time. Bah. Come on come on. We are professionals.

The club pays us a lot of money. Players receive money. I receive money and I don’t look for excuses and I don’t show courage or sense of responsibility. For me this is unacceptable because for me it is the first time in my career that I see a situation like this.

“So far I couldn’t change it and compared to last season the situation has gotten worse.”

Tottenham led 3-1 with 16 minutes remaining at Southampton. Pedro Porro opened the scoring and Harry Kane made it 2-1 up after Che Adams’ equalizer. But Theo Walcott closed the gap and James Ward-Prowse scored a controversial penalty in the last minute.

The coach did not address his players in the locker room, but went directly to his press duties.

“For me, it’s not a penalty and then we stop,” Conte said. “The worst is what happened on the field, and what has been happening in recent months, this is my second season.

‘It is the right time to speak because this performance for me is unacceptable. It is better now to enter the problem.

‘The problem is that on another occasion we showed that we are not a team. We are 11 players who go out on the pitch and I see selfish players, players who don’t want to help each other, who don’t show heart.

‘The most important thing if you want to be strong and competitive is the desire, the fire in your eyes, in your heart and you have to show it at all times. On the other hand, if I have to compare with last season, now we are worse in this regard.

‘When you’re not a team, anything can happen. Don’t forget we lost in the FA Cup to Sheffield United, who played young players.

‘I’m not talking about tactics or technical aspects. Being a team is the most important thing. To understand that we play for the badge, so that our fans feel proud of us. We have to play to show desire. The fire in your eyes to win. If you have this you don’t go out in the FA Cup and today you win.’

Conte’s contract will expire at the end of the season. He is not expected to extend his agreement and, after this, it is possible that he convinced himself to participate in a summit with President Daniel Levy, who was in St Mary’s.

“Maybe in the other games something can change, but here we have been used to it for a long time,” added Conte. “The club has the responsibility of the transfer market and each coach here has the responsibility… and the players?

‘Where are the players? In my experience, if you want to be competitive and fight, you have to improve on this. And this is really low in this aspect. I only see 11 playing by themselves.’