Jamie Carragher believes Antonio Conte’s primary issue with Tottenham Hotspur at the moment is the success of local rivals Arsenal.

Writing for The Telegraph, Jamie Carragher argued this week that Antonio Conte’s main problem is Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal side.

Carragher writes that the Gunners are “generating headlines for playing with a youthful, energetic swagger” whilst Conte’s side are “seen as more pragmatic and counterattacking”.

The suggestion is that Spurs fans are unhappy because Conte doesn’t fit with the kind of football they want their team to play, whilst Arteta’s Arsenal are doing exactly that.

Carragher goes on to argue that Conte is perhaps being treated unfairly, as his football has previously yielded results and likely will again in the future, despite outside perceptions of the playing style.

But he adds that “Tottenham supporters are looking at their rivals and craving similar edge-of-the-seat football”.

This is hardly the first time this issue has been raised in football analysis. Almost all managers get praised for their football philosophy when they win and criticised for it when they lose, regardless of what that philosophy is.

But the fans do tend to favour losing in a swashbuckling attacking style to watching their side grind out 1-0 defeats. Managers like Conte and Jose Mourinho have had plenty of success, but when things go wrong it doesn’t take long for the supporters to turn on them.

Conte is walking that tightrope now, knowing that if he doesn’t start winning soon, he won’t be given much of a grace period.

From an Arsenal point of view, this is all great to see, and long may it continue.