Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg has called on Antonio Conte to be more open with his Tottenham players in wake of his furious post-match press conference at Southampton. Throwing away a 3-1 lead with Saints drawing level from the penalty spot in stoppage time, the Italian pulled no punches in a very honest ten minutes with the media.
Getting plenty off his chest as he hit out at the players and delivered his thoughts on the club, the 53-year-old's job in north London is now on the line with 13 days until their next Premier League fixture against Everton. Having seen the vast majority of the squad jet off across the globe for the first international break of 2023, Conte's outburst was put to Hojbjerg when he was speaking at a Denmark press conference on Monday.
The midfielder, who was expecting a question on Conte going on his initial reaction, has opened up on the current situation and outlined that he believes the Spurs boss should "elaborate" to his players on his feelings and that his explosion maybe would not have happened had they not exited the FA Cup and Champions League.
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“Haha, yes, how did I experience it? I think we’ve all seen it. Very honest and very open press conference he gave. It is because he is not satisfied. You don’t do that if you’ve reached the quarter-final of the Champions League and if you’re in the semi-final of the FA Cup,” explained the midfielder, as reported by Tipsbladet (via Sport Witness).
“It comes from the fact that, unfortunately, we did not get the results we as a team and club wanted. We are still where we want and need to be in the Premier League. But yes, it’s hard, I should say.
“I understand that if you want to be successful as a team, you need 11 men who are committed to a project and a culture. But I think he has to elaborate on how he feels before you as a player can start measuring and weighing.
“The coach has not been satisfied, and that is what I will take with me. You do what you can to please him. What I do know about myself is that I am an honest player. I am a player who always gives 100% of myself for the team.”
When asked if Conte was right in the way that he reacted when speaking to the media, Hojbjerg added: “Fortunately, I am not the one to judge it.”
Tottenham's No.5 did make it clear that he and his teammates had no idea what was to come from Conte when he finally held his post-match press conference about an hour after the full-time whistle had sounded at Southampton.
“No, let me put it this way: He didn’t tell us what he wanted to say at the press conference," he revealed. "But it is clear that you work with each other every day, you want the best for each other and you want to be successful together. And sometimes the waves go high in football."
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