We’re still fighting, insists Conte
CHELSEA 2 BRIGHTON 0
AT THE end of a day in which Chelsea had taken apart their opponents in the patient, relentless manner typical of Antonio Conte’s era, the Italian raised a glass of champagne in the press room and promised to do the same if they beat Stoke City on Saturday.
He is a manager at ease with the world, weighing the compliments for his team and gently batting back the suggestion that he might sign his former Juventus player Arturo Vidal yet in spite of that he all but knows the title is gone. His team moved closer to second with Manchester United’s draw but the gap to Manchester City is so large that no-one talks about it any longer.
All that Conte would say was that he was proud of his players, still hunting down teams at home to keep up the fight and converting chances in a way they had failed to do in the previous game at Goodison Park.
“We fight for a place in the Champions League next season,” he said. “There are four places for six top teams. Last season, Arsenal and Manchester United finished fifth and sixth, no? There is this great motivation for me, for the players, and we want to try and improve.”
His side were inspired by an Eden Hazard performance in which the man in question played four positions better than anyone else on the pitch, this time that being right wing, left wing, playmaker and centre-forward.
The goals were scored by Alvaro Morata, who broke through a minute after half-time, and then Marcos Alonso, although the whole operation was orchestrated by the Chelsea No 10 who played on a level inaccessible to Brighton.
It was the same day last year that Chelsea notched up their 12th straight win in that season-defining run of 13 and were seven points clear at the top of the Premier League after 18 games – establishing a leading position that they would hold all the way to the title in May. There is not a great deal wrong with them this time, even if their points total is down – 42 from 20 games, as opposed to 49 last season – but they simply cannot live with City.
Conte is philosophical about it, knowing that in all likelihood he will depart in the summer unless there is a huge change of heart and keen to leave the club in a better state than he inherited it. He was asked about the possibility of signing Vidal next July by which time the whole picture will have changed.
Conte managed the usual caveats about not talking about other clubs’ players although by July he may well be at another club himself. He did say that the Bayern Munich man was someone he would want, “if I had to go to war”.
No such demands yesterday, simply the requirement to beat Chris Hughton’s well-organised side who let their manager down by conceding so early in the second half and then, on the hour, from a set-piece.
“I want them to feel proud of where we are and what we’ve achieved so far, but frustrated because we could have done better,” Hughton said. “Would we have been happy at the start of the season to be in the position we are in now? The answer would be yes. But we could have done better.” (© Daily Telegraph, London)