Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has played down his apparent touchline disagreement with Manchester United counterpart Jose Mourinho.
The United boss did not appear to appreciate that Conte was demanding that Chelsea fans be more vocal when the Blues were already 4-0 up, with translations from Italian TV suggesting that Mourinho told Conte that it was humiliating when they spoke at full-time.
But Conte played down the episode during his press conference ahead of the EFL Cup fixture against West Ham.
"I think in this moment it’s not important to talk again about a game that for us is the past. Now it’s important to be focused against West Ham. I’m pleased with the performance against United but now it’s important to not look to the past," he said.
"I think that everyone must show respect for me, for my work, for my job. I have a history and you can see my history, my past and my behaviours on the bench. I’m a passionate man, I show this in the past...[and] now. I want to stay very close to my players, also to play with them, to help them. I always show respect for the opponent, for the other teams, for the other club and my history speaks for me."
Speaking about the incident to Newstalk's Rewind podcast on Monday, former Chelsea and Ireland full-back Paddy Mulligan said: "[Mourinho's] tried to humiliate other people down through the years and he doesn't like it being done to himself.
"He likes to criticise other players, managers and teams. But when the ball hits him, he's not too happy about it . What really irked him was the fact that Conte went and asked the Chelsea fans to be more vocal because for the previous few minutes, the United fans were moral vocal than the Chelsea fans."
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