Antonio
Conte had no doubt the pressure on his position would intensify after his
Chelsea side’s stunning 3-0 defeat by Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge on
Wednes
day.
The Blues
head coach insists his Chelsea team, the reigning Premier League champions, are
over-achieving this season –- but claims he is “relaxed” if members of the
club’s hierarchy view things differently.
Defeat left
Chelsea in fourth place in the Premier League, just two points above Tottenham
Hotspur and Conte accepted there were concerns over whether the Blues would
qualify for next season’s Champions League.
“The
pressure, it’s normal. It’s normal for a coach, for a manager,” Conte said.
“It’s normal if you are Chelsea’s coach.
“After the
first game this season, you (the media) tried to put pressure on my job. But
I’m trying to do my best.”
The Italian
added: “If someone doesn’t think this club deserves this table (position) or
deserve this situation. I repeat: we are doing everything, we are doing 120
percent. I’m exploiting this squad at the maximum level.
“But, if
someone doesn’t agree about this, I’m here. I have to accept every situation.
I’m very relaxed about this. I know that I’m doing a great job, a great work,
me and the staff and the players.”
There have
been reports that Conte has angered Chelsea’s Russian billionaire owner Roman
Abramovich with thinly veiled criticism of the London club’s transfer policy.
Reality
Asked
whether the transfer business conducted by Chelsea’s top four rivals had made
the task of claiming a top-four finish harder, Conte replied: “We have to
understand that, if we want to speak about football and if we think to
understand football we know very well this (a top four place) will be very
difficult for us.
“If we want
only to dream and not see the reality –- in this case, I can tell you now we
can fight to win the title this season!”, added Conte, whose side area huge 18
points behind leaders Manchester City.
“It will be
very important to look at the reality and to know that, if we are able to reach
a place in the Champions League, it will be a great success for us. Otherwise
we have a normal season.
“My task is
to try to be more realistic and try to transfer this to the players, because
the players… if they know and understand the danger… But the players are
fantastic in their commitment. They understand very well what our situation is
in this season.”
New signing
Olivier Giroud watched the game from behind the dug-out but Conte said: “I
don’t think now is the right moment to speak about Giroud after a bad defeat.”
“Now the
most important thing is to understand we have to fight. This season will be
very tough. We must be ready to struggle this season for everything.”
– ‘Best
feeling’ –
Goals from
Callum Wilson, Junior Stanislas and Nathan Ake in 16 second-half minutes
secured Bournemouth’s impressive victory.
The win
moved Bournemouth up to tenth place, although they remain just five points
clear of the bottom three.
Eddie Howe
said the victory at Stamford Bridge was the best moment in his nine years,
spread over two spells, as Bournemouth manager.
Howe, who
has steered the club through the leagues from third-division League One, said:
“This is the best (feeling) because of the performance.
“When we won
here in our first season in the Premier League it was a historic performance,
but it was backs against the wall. There was no luck connected today. It was a
very strong performance. We’re improving, we’re getting stronger, we were very
brave in our approach.”
“Full credit
to the players: Chelsea are an outstanding team, but we defended very well,
attacked with purpose, and the shape and balance were very good.
“We were
unbeaten in five coming here and wanted to keep that going, picking up points,”
Howe added.
“To win by
the margin we have is something we didn’t expect but are very proud of.”
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