Conte criticised by three Blues stars

THREE star players have publicly criticised Chelsea manager Antonio Conte – who has now decided to cut himself off from English staff at Stamford Bridge.

In the wake of Chelsea’s 1-0 defeat by Manchester City on Sunday, Oliver Giroud and Eden Hazard have both called Conte’s tactics into question – with defender Marcos Alonso admitting the squad has an “attitude problem”.

Giroud has questioned Conte’s decision to play Hazard as a lone striker and leave him and fellow striker Alvaro Morata on the bench.

“It’s painful,” said Giroud. “Could we have been more ambitious? It is a good question. The coach made his tactics. We tried to respect that.

“If Eden had an opportunity to score we would have said it was a great choice. It was difficult for Eden but I’m not the coach. The coach makes the team. We have to respect that and give our best, no matter who is on the pitch.”

Hazard admitted as much himself too, saying: “If Olivier Giroud or Alvaro Morata had played up front, it would have been easier. With me, it’s more complicated. I tried my best.

Alonso added: “It’s an attitude problem. We have to change the attitude. We don’t have a problem with quality. We have shown that – and if we don’t reach that kind of level of performance in every match it’s because of our attitude.”

These comments are damning for Conte, whose side are now five points off the top four.

Conte has isolated himself inside his Italian “band of brothers” at Chelsea and has effectively cut himself off from the rest of the club.

A source close to the club said: “Conte these days only speaks to the close circle of coaching staff... He does not speak to any of the English staff. There is virtually a total cut off at the training ground.” – Express Newspapers