Conte: 'Selfish' Richarlison 'made a mistake'

Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte says Richarlison erred in giving an interview to a Brazilian TV network following the team's exit from the Champions League on Wednesday in which he complained about a lack of playing time this season.

The Italian agreed with the Brazil international's assessment that his season hasn't been good. Richarlison joined the club in the summer in a £60 million move from Everton, but has failed to make an impact with Spurs and has been sidelined at times with injury.

"He started well with us, he then had an injury and went to the World Cup and had another serious injury," Conte said. "He's scored zero goals [Premier League] with us, only two goals in the Champions League and the guy was really honest to say his season was not good. His season has not finished yet. If he deserves to play I'll give him the opportunity."

Conte, who has previously won league titles at the helm of Juventus, Inter and Chelsea, said that Richarlison only thought about himself in the interview after the 0-0 draw to Milan, but has since apologized.

"I think [he] understood he made a mistake because when you speak with 'I', I and I, not 'us', it means you are thinking only about yourself and you are selfish. I repeat to my players, if we want to build something important, fight for something important, fight to be competitive and win a trophy, we have to speak with 'we'. If we speak I, I and I, we are only thinking about himself. The guy understood very well and apologized, which is good because I had an opportunity to clarify for another time the spirit of the team."

Spurs currently sit fourth in the table, three points clear of Liverpool for the final Champions League spot, but the Reds have a game in hand.

They host Nottingham Forest on Saturday.