Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg called on Tottenham manager Antonio Conte to “elaborate” his criticism of his Spurs players following the Italian’s extraordinary rant in the aftermath of the draw at Southampton.
Conte slammed Tottenham’s players as “selfish” and said they were unable to perform “under pressure” as Spurs blew a 3-1 lead to draw against the Premier League’s bottom club.
Conte is now expected to be sacked as Daniel Levy considers his options in an attempt to save Tottenham’s top-four bid, with Hojbjerg becoming the first Spurs player to react in public to the manager’s stinging criticism.
The Independent has reported that the mood in the Tottenham dressing room is “toxic” with the players tired of Conte and while Hojbjerg said he wasn’t the one to judge whether the manager’s criticism was fair, the midfielder said Conte should be “more precise” with his comments.
“We’ve all seen it,” Hojbjerg said after returning to Denmark for international duty. “[It was a] 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.
“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 per cent of myself for the team.”
Tottenham chairman Levy is considering turning to assistant manager Ryan Mason, with Conte expected to be dismissed ahead of the club’s next Premier League game at Everton.
Hojbjerg added that Conte did not warn the Tottenham squad of what he planned to say at the post-Southampton press conference, with a core of the Spurs team said to be unhappy with the Italian.
“He didn’t tell us what he wanted to say at the press conference,” Hojbjerg added. “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.”
