Conte's comments about Arteta and Arsenal resurface after Tottenham sacking, they've aged badly

Antonio Conte's past comments about Mikel Arteta and Arsenal have resurfaced following the Italian's departure from Tottenham.

Spurs announced on Sunday that they had parted ways with Conte by mutual consent.

For the fourth time in four years, Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy decided to cut ties with a manager – after previously sacking Mauricio Pochettino, Jose Mourinho and Nuno Espirito Santo.

Conte's departure was inevitable after his astonishing outburst following Tottenham's recent 3-3 draw with Southampton.

The Italian branded his own players "selfish" in his post-match press conference while highlighting Tottenham's lack of trophies in recent years.

"I see selfish players, I see players that don't want to help each other and don't put their heart [in]," he said.

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"I see only 11 players that play for themselves.

"Why is it happening? Because they are used to it here, they are used to it. They don't play for something important yeah. They don't want to play under pressure, they don't want to play under stress. It is easy in this way."

Conte's comments resurface after Tottenham exit

To make matters worse for Spurs fans, bitter rivals Arsenal are flying high in the Premier League and are eight points clear at the top of the table, albeit having played one game more than their closest rivals Manchester City.

It now seems like a distant memory since Tottenham pipped Arsenal to the final Champions League spot at the end of last season.

Mikel Arteta's side had seemed certain to qualify for the Champions League following an impressive run of form early on in the campaign.

But a dramatic collapse in the closing weeks of the season, which included a 3-0 defeat to Tottenham in the North London derby, saw Arsenal finish fifth – two points behind Spurs.

Conte was quick to rub salt into Arteta's wounds after the derby defeat by claiming that the Arsenal manager "complains a lot" to the officials.

"Mikel Arteta is a really good coach. He's just started to do this job and I listen to him complain a lot," he said at the time.

"He has to be focused more on his team and not to complain, because he's just started this work.

"He has to be calm and try to continue to work."

Those comments certainly haven't aged well. No doubt, it is Arteta who has had the last laugh.

Topics: Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Football, Premier League, Antonio Conte, Mikel Arteta

Rory O'Callaghan

Rory O'Callaghan is Editorial Lead at SPORTbible. He has previously worked for Sky Sports News, MailOnline and Reach covering football, cricket, boxing and MMA. Tested daily as a Liverpool fan in a Manchester office.

@rory_ocallaghan