Tim Sherwood blasted Antonio Conte for ‘going over the top’ on the touchline during Tottenham’s 3-2 defeat to Southampton, as he told Premier League Productions (10/02/22 12:15 pm).
The former Spurs boss claimed that, if he was a Saints player, then he would have been ‘riled’ by Conte’s actions.
In the build-up to Heung-Min Son scoring Tottenham’s second in the 70th minute, the away side were annoyed at Emerson Royal’s foul on Armando Broja, which also resulted in the Brazilian accidentally falling on the Chelsea loanee’s head.
Play wasn’t stopped for a head injury by the on-field referee, with Spurs going ahead and scoring, which resulted in protests from the Southampton players and the bench.
This didn’t sit well with Conte, who reacted in an aggressive fashion to his opposite numbers trying to get the goal ruled out.
Sherwood was in no doubt that it was a foul on Borja and he also thinks that moment helped galvanise Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side.
“No maybes about it,” said Sherwood. “It’s a clear foul. He has almost broken his neck. But they play on.
“Tottenham don’t have to stop play there. They can do what they want to do. They look at VAR and said that ‘it wasn’t a foul in the build-up’. But you can see, it’s quite clear.
“I thought this was over the top (Conte arguing with Saints bench). Southampton felt aggrieved, so they are going to make their complaints. I think Antonio should have just sat down. Let the officials get on with it.
“His reactions, if I was a Southampton player, then it would have riled me. It would have charged me up. It looked like, it possibly did that to the Southampton players. He wouldn’t leave it. He got his way. He was talking to the Southampton players on the pitch – Antonio, and his staff, the reaction was over the top. The game was not won.”
Previously, it has been Spurs who have been turning around 2-1 scorelines, but this time, they were on the wrong end of the result.
In truth, Southampton deserved every bit of what they got because they were the better team in north London.
They could argue that they should have scored more on the night because they created many clear-cut chances.
In the end, the job was done and Spurs were dealt a blow in their race to finish in the top four.
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