Perhaps this is the second rival club that Chelsea Manager Antonio Conte has provided bulletin board material for this weekend. First he dismissively said that Tottenham Hotspur have lower expectations than Chelsea and he articulated this opinion in a very condescending manner.
Now he brought up Manchester United Manager Jose Mourinho, who had a disastrous 2015-16 season, his last campaign with Chelsea. Now Antonio Conte is definitely not wrong about what happened, as Mourinho’s Chelsea went from winning the league by a very large margin in 2014-15 to hovering just above the relegation zone in December when Mourinho was sacked.
Interim Manager Guus Hiddink rallied the team to a tenth place finish.
“We know that it will be difficult next season, and we want to avoid the previous season [after winning the league],” said Conte following a 2-1 loss to Inter Milan in their final exhibition friendly of the Asia Tour.
“Two years ago, the team finished 10th place in the league and we want to avoid this. Two coaches were sacked from Chelsea after they won the league. I want to avoid, and the players want to avoid, the last season with Mourinho.”
Antonio Conte inherited a team from Mourinho that was lacking in leadership and chemistry; that’s very clear.
However, his comments could only serve to inspire some mind games from Mourinho in retaliation and right now, we’re not really sure that it’s in the best interests of Antonio Conte to be provoking that. This idea could backfire later.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV.
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