Antonio Conte has chosen to give Mikel Arteta a taste of his own medicine after the Arsenal manager’s recent complaints about the tight schedule.
After Arsenal’s loss to Liverpool, Arteta chose to speak out about the apparent fixturing mess that his club has had to deal with but these excuses did not go down well with fellow manager Antonio Conte.
Conte was quick to remind his North London rival that back in January Arsenal had a request to postpone January’s clash accepted as they had a depleted squad.
“Yeah but I only want Arteta to remember the game postponed. Tottenham-Arsenal, okay? If we speak about unfair. I stop,” Conte said when asked about Mikel Arteta’s comments.
“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 forget this, and I think that it’s not right to speak about fair or unfair.”
Antonio Conte on Mikel Arteta's fixture list complaints:
"I only want Arteta to remember the game between Tottenham and Arsenal. My answer is enough, if someone wants to speak about fair. I don't forget this. I don’t want to speak about fair or unfair." pic.twitter.com/8PGCXhGc3I
— Chris Wheatley (@ChrisWheatley_) March 18, 2022
The postponed North London Derby was the subject of many debates because Arsenal had more injuries and suspensions rather than positive cases(the primary reason for postponement).
And now that Mikel Arteta has chosen to whine about a scheduling mess, Antonio Conte has wasted no time to remind him of his bias.
Up until the Liverpool game, Arsenal have played only 11 games in 2022 which is amongst the lowest for all the Premier League sides. The fact that they are only playing in the league has been a massive boost for their mental strength as well as their performances.
Spurs, on the other hand, have played 16 games this year and even five more games mean a lot more fatigue and pressure.
The two sides are still actively fighting for the fourth spot on the Premier League table and even though the Gunners are occupying that final UCL spot on the table, Spurs are just three points behind having played one more game.
Tottenham still have to face some tough opponents like West Ham, Leicester and Liverpool but even Arsenal will have their work cut out because they need to tackle Chelsea, Man United and West Ham United in three consecutive games towards the end of April.
Arsenal will undoubtedly drop more points before the end of the season but Antonio Conte will have to make sure that his side pick up wins each and every week and then wait for their local rivals to slip up.
