Conte unruffled after Chelsea loss
LONDON: Chelsea coach Antonio Conte said he had a clear conscience over the slump in form of the English champions after a second Premier League defeat in less than a week and promised he would not lose any sleep over the prospect of losing his job.
“Tomorrow is another day,” he said after his 10-man side lost 4-1 at Watford on Monday. “I can be Chelsea coach or not. What is the problem? I go to sleep without a problem.”
In contrast with his first season, when Chelsea cruised to the title, they are 19 points adrift of leaders Manchester City and are one point away from dropping out of the Champions League qualifying spots.
At a club which has seen managers come and go since Roman Abramovich took over as owner in 2003, Conte knows his position is increasingly tenuous but he said he was working as hard as he could to turn things around.
The Italian has called on the board to end the uncertainty by publicly confirming they trust in his work but votes of confidence are rare at Stamford Bridge.
Conte has repeatedly spoken openly about his frustration that Chelsea failed to match the big signings made by City and United, before the season and he returned to the subject after the Watford defeat.
“I tried to warn everyone about the difficulty of our path in the league and Champions League,” said Conte, whose side face a tough last 16 tie against Barcelona in Champions League later this month.
But Conte also accepted some of the blame for the slump in form that saw Chelsea lose 3-0 at home to Bournemouth last week before Monday’s loss.
“I try to continue to work, to improve the different aspects of my players, but today I think our performance was very poor and for sure I have to a take the responsibility because maybe I took the wrong decision for the (starting) 11.”
“For sure it is a difficult moment and if we want to find excuses we can find everything tiredness and injuries. But this is not my way,” added the 48-yearold.
“I hope that tonight for once you understand me - I am not worried about my job. I work very hard and I give 120 percent.”