Richarlison further complicated matters for Tottenham when it appeared that he criticised Conte and demanded more playing time from the Spurs manager.
Emotions are running high after another bad result for the north London club amidst increasing talk of Conte leaving the club at the end of the season.
The Brazilian’s interview added more fuel to suggestions that Tottenham are an unhappy camp, but Conte insisted that the player did not criticise him but was reflecting on his own bad season.
The Spurs boss believes that the forward was honest about his performance and he will get more opportunities if he deserves them.
Conte said in a press conference: “First of all I watched the interview of Richarlison. He didn’t criticise me. He said his season was [swears] and he’s right.
“His season has been not good. He had injuries, played and scored in the Champions League and then went to the World Cup and then had a serious injury.
“He’s scored no goals for us.
“I think he was really honest to say his season was not good.
“His season has not finished yet. If he deserves to play I’ll give him the opportunity.”
The Italian stressed that the interview was a mistake by the player and he has already apologised to his team-mates.
Conte insisted that his team need to stick together as they try to navigate out of a bad moment in their season.
“For the rest of the interview, I think he made a mistake.
“When you speak of ‘I’ and not ‘us’ you are being selfish.
“I say to my players if we want to build something important and win a trophy we have to speak with ‘we’ not with ‘I’, because otherwise, you’re thinking of yourself.
“He made a mistake and he apologised and it was good for me to clarify with the team again about this. In this aspect, we have to improve.
“We have to be more of a team and show more spirit positive, especially in negative moments.”
