Antonio Conte has stoked the flames of animosity between him and Jose Mourinho even further claiming the Portuguese is a little man, fake and suffering from amnesia.
Mourinho appeared to question Conte’s integrity last night and the Italian responded: “When there are these types of comments, you have to know very well the truth,” he said.
“Because, the truth is that I was banned for four months for a failure to report. You understand? Then I asked for a retrial by court and then they cleared my innocence. I think that before you make this type of comment, you must pay great attention. And if you don’t, you show that you are a little man. You don’t know very well what is the situation.
“I know [Jose] very well in the past. In the past he was a little man in many circumstances. He’s a little man in the present and for sure he’ll be a little man in the future. For sure, if he wants to try to change his behaviour, but right now Mourinho is this. You know him very well. The label is very low.
“I repeat, before you speak, you have to know very well what happened.”
Will the fighting talk between the pair continue?
Conte said: “This is not my problem, you understand. I consider him a little man. I consider him a man with a very low profile, you understand. But there is a story I speak for me and for him. But you can change the story; you have to know the story very well. In the last period he’s having a bit of amnesia.
“When you become older, there is this type of risk. For me; for you; for us all. The problem is if you show this. [Jose] must show great attention because he is doing this with regularity.”
So is there an example of this little man mentality?
“I remember with [Claudio] Ranieri when he offended him for his English. And then, when Ranieri was sacked, he put a shirt for Ranieri. You understand? You have a fake. You have a good consideration for a person or not. It doesn’t change your opinion to be more sympathetic. If you want to fight a person, you kill this person and you act. And then, after two years, you try to help this person because maybe it’s good for you, for your profile.
“The situation is quite clear. I don’t have anything to clarify and then I think it will be the opportunity in the game against [Manchester] United at Old Trafford to clarify if there is someone to clarify. Me and him, face-to-face, okay. I’m ready, but I don’t know if he’s ready.”