CONTE
Gary Neville says Chelsea's players didn't turn up against
Manchester United - but neither did their manager.
Goals from Marcus Rashford
and Ander Herrera dealt Antonio Conte's side a 2-0 loss at Old Trafford as they
saw their lead at the top of the Premier League cut to four points following
Tottenham's win over Bournemouth on Saturday.
Thibaut Courtois and Marcos
Alonso missed the game through injury and Neville felt the enthusiasm that the
Italian has shown throughout the season was missing on Super Sunday.
"Chelsea didn't turn up and where was Conte
today?" he asked.
"You talk about the
players, but the manager has been so active on the touchline all season and you
expected him to get them going, raging up and down the touchline.
"He seemed a little
subdued today, like he lacked belief. For me, Chelsea didn't turn up."
Conte said after the
match that Manchester United showed "more motivation" than Chelsea,
but Neville was not critical of his post-match interview.
However, he insisted his
demeanour during the match was a "worry" as Chelsea look to wrap up
the title in the final six matches of the season.
He added: "If he was
subdued in his interview after the game I think you can accept that because his
team just haven't performed today. They were really poor.
"I was more worried
about him being subdued during the game because he's been so active on the
touchline all season. It was almost like seeing Jurgen Klopp just stood there.
"He spent most
of the first half doing this [stroking his chin] today. That was the worrying
thing for me; that he didn't turn up himself.
"His character, his
personality and his demeanour that everyone has enjoyed all season and loved,
hugging fans, running up and down the touchline and shouting at players to
hurry after the ball didn't turn up today.
"He didn't turn up
during the match. He was subdued and I don't know why that was."
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