Chelsea Manager Antonio Conte wondered aloud if his club might be lacking all that is required to compete on multiple fronts this season. The Italian also warned his team that defending their Premier League title will be very difficult.
This point was certainly driven home Saturday when the Blues fell to last place Crystal Palace; shocking the football world. It was more than just a loss to a last place side, it was a defeat at the hands of a team that had not even scored during the entire season and lost all of their previous seven games, and it inspired a ton of schadenfreude on social media worldwide.
The timing was right on point, as Antonio Conte also told GQ in an interview that some days, he hates being a manager.
Getting back to the loss to the Eagles, Conte outlined the challenges ahead.
“This season will be very difficult for us. For this reason we have to put 150% in; 100% won’t be enough. I have players with a great will to work and fight. For sure we have to find the strength to overcome this moment,” he said.
“Everyone can see our situation. I think every season is different. Last season is the past. Now it is another squad, different players and for this reason if we compare last season we didn’t play Europa League or Champions League. This season we are facing four competitions and we are having a few problems doing this.
“When you have a few injuries, you are in trouble.”
“You know very well the potential of the other teams but it is important for us to look at ourselves. This season will be difficult but also we have to understand we have to try to build something important for the future, to give the opportunity to the new players to have more experience in this league, to give the opportunity to young players to show they deserve to stay and play for Chelsea,” Antonio Conte continued.
“We must have patience this season to understand it won’t be easy.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now and Minute Media. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
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