Antonio Conte did not hold back as he hit out at Tottenham's players following Saturday's 3-3 draw with Premier League strugglers Southampton.
Spurs led 3-1 in the closing stages at St Mary's Stadium, after Harry Kane and Ivan Perisic netted in quick succession.
Yet Theo Walcott pulled one back for Saints before James Ward-Prowse slammed home a contentiously-awarded penalty deep in stoppage time.
Tottenham have won just one of their last five league away games, and while they sit fourth, they are only two points ahead of Newcastle United having played two games more.
Conte, whose future at Spurs is far from certain, did not mix his words in his post-match media duties, labelling his players as "selfish" and accusing them of lacking fight.
He told reporters: "The problem is we have shown we are not a team. We are 11 players.
"I see selfish players. I see players that don’t want to help each other, that don't play with heart."
Conte suggested the issue in his squad is something that has plagued Spurs since long before he arrived.
"The players don't want to play under pressure, don't want to play under stress. Tottenham's story is this – 20 years and they never won something. Why?" he asked.
"The fault is only the club or every manager that comes here? Until now I try to hide the situation. But there are 10 games to go.
"People think we can fight? Fight for what? With this attitude, this spirit, this commitment. For seventh? Eighth place? I am really upset."
Conte reiterated this sentiment when speaking to BBC Sport, saying: "We are winning 3-1 [with] 15 minutes to go and I think you have to win.
"I don't want to talk about the technical aspect, the spirit is missing. We are not a team. We are a team where everyone is thinking of himself.
"When you are in this way that can happen, you lose against Sheffield United and drop [out of] the FA Cup and with Milan [in the Champions League]. I don't see the sense of responsibility of the players.
"Now it's difficult – we are working hard with this group and to move in the right direction. We are going behind, I see a lot of negative situations and a lot of selfish situations and players that I don't like.
"I know the way to beat teams, in the past I beat a lot of teams, winning teams. I have great frustration about this because me and the staff stay every day to think of a way to improve.
"Honestly, it's time I have to take responsibility for me, the staff, the club but also the players. The players go onto the pitch, I'm the coach, OK I take the responsibility, the players have to take some.
"What happened in the last period is unacceptable and I tried every moment to speak to try to improve the situation and to transfer the importance to be a team and to help each other, but I'm not seeing this."
Conte concluded with a blunt summary of Spurs' campaign.
"In a process where you want to build something, the tactical aspect is important, but the spirit is important," he said.
"The mind has to stay focused and despite one and a half years, I saw much more last season.
"This season, we are going backwards."
Fonseca: Venezia treated with same importance as Liverpool or Inter
After three games without a win, Paulo Fonseca's main focus is getting a first victory of the season against Venezia, without looking ahead to other big matches.
Fonseca is already under pressure, with Milan having collected only two points from three games, and with their first Champions League match at home to Liverpool on Tuesday followed by a derby clash with Inter next weekend, things could get even worse.
For now, though, the 51-year-old badly needs a win and, with the visit of Venezia to San Siro the priority, Fonseca has prepared his 14th-placed team to take on the promoted side, who have one point and are second-bottom in the standings.
"They [games] are all important, even more so at this time. I am confident, as always. It's important to win on Saturday, then we'll think about Liverpool," Fonseca told a press conference.
"Milan must always win, not just on Saturday. I looked at Venezia. They are a dangerous team on the counter-attack.
"Against Parma [2-1 defeat] we suffered, but against Lazio [2-2 draw] we improved a lot. The problem was defensive organisation. We worked on it. We know Venezia's strong point, and we are prepared."
Milan have conceded six goals in three games, with no other Serie A side allowing more so far this season, and the international break has given Fonseca time to work on their defensive problems.
"We didn't have many players during the break, but we had many defenders. We worked on the behaviour of the defensive line and on individual behaviour," he added.
"We have to improve on the many goals conceded. A team that doesn't want to concede goals must keep the ball more. We are working on it.
"The players understand the importance of keeping the ball and managing the game with the ball."
Fonseca is well aware of the scrutiny he is under after the poor start to the season, but the real pressure comes from the fans, who will again be there supporting Milan on Saturday.
"We coaches always are [under scrutiny], we depend on the results. But I'm just focused on my work," Fonseca said.
"After these first three games, having 70,000 supporters is a great declaration of love.
"It's also a big responsibility for us, to keep evolving and make the fans proud of us. That's what we want to do tomorrow, repay the support of our fans."
Arteta believes Sterling has point to prove as debut awaits
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta believes Raheem Sterling has a point to prove following his deadline-day move from Chelsea.
Sterling made the journey across London late in the transfer window after being deemed surplus to requirements by Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca.
The 29-year-old, who is with the Gunners on a season-long loan, could make his debut in the North London derby against Tottenham on Sunday and Arteta, who worked with him during his time as an assistant coach at Manchester City, has enjoyed linking up with the Englishman again so far.
Arteta said of Sterling: "He looks great. First of all, because he has a big smile on his face, a lot of energy. He's at it and wants to prove a point."
The Spaniard has already seen a desire from Sterling to return to his past form, which saw him win four Premier League titles with City, and score 123 Premier League goals.
"When someone has got that in his belly you sense it straight away," said Arteta.
"Obviously, I don't need to discover anything about his quality and what he can bring to the team.
"What I see is hunger. He is a player who wants to play every minute of every game. When that is not the case, he's not happy."
Arteta refused to rule out the possibility of Martin Odegaard being involved on Sunday, despite the midfielder sustaining an ankle injury during the international break.
Norway's national team doctor said Odegaard would be out for the next three weeks, but the Arsenal boss was bullish about his chances of possibly being involved.
He said: "We need some more tests so let's see what happens in the next day or so, this afternoon probably, and see what happens with the extent of the injury and how quickly we can get him back.
“"48 hours until the game, players could always become available, but let's see what happens."
Arteta signed a new three-year contract during the week, having been appointed in December 2019, and said his strong feelings towards the club made the decision to extend a no-brainer.
"The emotional attachment that I have, that my family has, and my kids have [to Arsenal], as well as the experience that I have and the moment [I am sharing] with the people - it is too strong," said the 42-year-old.
"We are going in the right direction, we have made some huge steps, and we have a lot still to make."
Houston Dynamo v Real Salt Lake: Mastroeni relishes challenge of integrating new players
Real Salt Lake head coach Pablo Mastroeni is looking forward to seeing how his new players settle in, with Houston Dynamo next up in MLS.
RSL brought in five new faces in the transfer window, with some of those introduced during their 2-0 win over New England Revolution last time out.
They currently sit third in the Western Conference, five points behind leaders LA Galaxy, and with teams below them starting to close in.
And with only seven games left of the regular season, Mastroeni is eager to get the new players integrated as soon as possible.
"A lot of problems to solve, but it allows us to collaborate as a team and figure out on the fly quickly how these new players can bring their skill sets to make our team better," he told KSL Sports Zone.
"It completely changes the dynamic of everything up to this point, but if we play with the right mentality, aggressive on both sides of the ball, then the acclimation of the new players will be much easier as the players show what our standards are."
Meanwhile, Houston have lost just two of their last 13 MLS matches and sit seventh in the table.
They have a good record against RSL too, losing just one of their nine meetings, and Ben Olsen is excited to face off against them once more.
"They're fun games," Olsen said. "We continue to look at the schedule and Salt Lake keep popping up.
"They're a very good team, if not a little bit different. We'll have to be at our best and defensively sound like we were against LAFC, but a little sharper in and around the goal."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Houston Dynamo – Steve Clark
Houston Dynamo played Los Angeles FC in back-to-back MLS games, winning one and drawing the other without conceding a single goal.
It is the first time the Dynamo have kept a clean sheet in consecutive games since March this year, when they registered consecutive 1-0 wins over Portland Timbers and Colorado Rapids.
Real Salt Lake – Braian Ojeda
Braian Ojeda got his second assist of the MLS season last weekend in Real Salt Lake's 2-0 win over New England Revolution.
However, he also had the most touches (88), made the most passes (67), with more accurate passes than any of his team-mates.
MATCH PREDICTION: HOUSTON DYNAMO WIN
This will be the ninth meeting between the Dynamo and Real Salt Lake since the start of the 2023 season. Houston have won four of the nine meetings (D3 L1) with Real Salt Lake's only win coming in the first meeting of this year's regular season, a 3-2 home win on July 3.
However, Houston have won just three of their last 13 home matches in all competitions (D7 L3) dating back to late March. One of those three wins was a 3-0 victory over Real Salt Lake in the Leagues Cup on August 5.
Meanwhile, Real Salt Lake have won only one of their last 10 away matches in all competitions (D5 L4) dating back to the beginning of May, including losing two straight away from home for the first time in 2024, with the second of those the 3-0 loss at Houston in the Leagues Cup.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Houston Dynamo – 50.2%
Draw – 25.2%
Real Salt Lake – 24.6%
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
