CONTE
Antonio Conte has warned title-chasing rivals that Chelsea
won’t buckle under the pressure of leading the Premier League.
Chelsea are six points clear of Liverpool at the top of the
table going into the festive period and are now overwhelming favourites to lift
the title in Conte’s first season at the club.
But it remains to be seen how the Blues, under the Italian,
will handle the pressure of leading the chase going into the second half of the
season as the chasing pack try to hunt them down.
Conte has no doubts, insisting that being front-runners holds
no fear for his team.
‘It’s good to stay in this position (at the top of the
table),’ he said. ‘I don’t trust the people when they say, “It’s important now
to stay behind, and there’s pressure when you’re top”.
‘I’d prefer the
pressure of being top of the table. We earned this position. Now it’s important
to keep it. It won’t be easy, for sure.
‘I think we must have the right pressure. We all know that,
now, we are doing fantastic things. If I go with my mind at the start of the
season, not one person thought or forecast that Chelsea would stay top of the
table, for many reasons.’
Meanwhile, Conte has admitted his disappointment in losing
coach Steve Holland to England.
The FA have confirmed that Holland will become Gareth
Southgate’s full-time assistant manager with the national team at the end of
the season.
He will continue to split his time between both roles until
the season ends, but Conte said: ‘Steve is a very good professional and is
helping me a lot with my experience at Chelsea.
‘He has great experience with this club. It’s a pity to lose
him, I must be honest.
‘But, also, I can understand his choice. This type of
situation can arrive only once in your life, to be a coach or assistant coach
of your national team and your country.
‘For this reason, I understand him. It’s a pity because I’ve
worked very well with him. For the future, it’s important to be focused on the
present and work with this staff.
‘I have a great staff, a fantastic staff. There is a great
spirit, a family spirit, with them. In the future, we’ll see.’
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