‘His season is no good’ – Antonio Conte takes swipe at Richarlison over remarks

Antonio Conte has taken aim at Richarlison and accused Tottenham supporters of lacking patience in a fiery press conference on Friday.

Speaking on the eve of Saturday’s home Premier League game against Nottingham Forest, Conte addressed the striker’s own explosive post-match interview with Brazilian media after the Champions League aggregate defeat to Milan.

Richarlison, a £60m summer signing from Everton, alleged he had been given “no explanation” for his lack of minutes in the defeat at Wolves and said: “This season – and forgive my language – has been shit.”

Conte responded: “First of all, I watched the interview of Richarlison and he didn’t criticise me. He said: ‘My season is shit,’ and he is right – because his season is no good because he had a lot of injuries. He started well with us, he then had an injury in the Champions League, went to the World Cup and he had another serious injury.”

The Italian added: “He came back and stayed one month out. Then another injury. He scored zero goals with us [in the league], only two goals in the Champions League and I think the guy was really honest to tell that his season is not good.

“Then if you ask me for the rest of the interview I think that the guy understood very well that he made a mistake because when you speak with ‘I, I and I’, not with ‘us’, it means you are thinking only about yourself and you are selfish.”

Conte said Richarlison had since apologised. “For me it was good, because I had an opportunity to clarify for another time the importance of the spirit of the team.”

Spurs’ painful FA Cup and Champions League exits this month have increased speculation over Conte’s, whose terms expire in the summer. Although the club hold the option to extend his deal by a