Chelsea manager Antonio Conte rejects the notion that his tenure at Chelsea can or should be compared to Jose Mourinho’s first spell with the club. It’s not surprising that Conte would distance himself from anything at all connected to Mourinho, given the ugly row, and prolonged war of words between the two men that began 2018.
Conte believes that Mourinho’s first go around with Chelsea, and the current status quo are two different eras, apparently alluding to the amount of money spent on players in the transfer windows. He also pointed out he won a title last season, his first year on the job, while inheriting a team that finished just tenth the previous season.
“There are different eras,” Antonio Conte said.
“I have to consider this. I repeat, I won a title with Juventus after two seventh places. When you win a title in this way, it’s a great, great achievement. Not a simple achievement. Last season we won a title after a 10th place.”
“When you win a title in this way, it means it’s a great, great achievement. Not a simple achievement, only because your name is Chelsea and it’s normal because, in the past, you won many titles. You have to see the era you are going through.”
On Thursday night, Conte achieved his 65th victory in his first 100 matches at Chelsea. In modern history, only Mourinho, with 72 wins in his first 100, posted a better record.
“I could do better, yes. This is my mentality,” Conte responded when these statistics were presented to him.
“For sure, this is a good stat but I know that, this season, we could have done better. Mourinho was 72 in the first 100? We are talking about a great manager, don’t forget that the first 100 games with Mourinho were many years ago.”
“Now it’s not simple, I think, to have this type of results in this moment, in this present Chelsea. I must be pleased for the players, for the club, but for sure, we could do better.”
Both Chelsea and United will play in the FA Cup semifinals this weekend, so it’s possible that Conte and Mourinho will meet once more this season, in a potential FA Cup final.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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