My stars must share blame, insists Conte
ANTONIO CONTE believes Chelsea’s struggling stars must take their share of the blame if they fail to qualify for the Champions League.
Eden Hazard and Thibaut Courtois are among those who could leave at the end of the season, chased by Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain respectively.
Chelsea sit fifth in the Premier League, 10 points behind Tottenham, and travel to Southampton today looking for only their fourth win of 2018.
Conte, who is not making plans for the summer amid uncertainty over his future, said: ‘If we don’t qualify it means we have to divide the fault, also with the players.
‘If you are not able to take a qualification in the Champions League, then you must consider playing next season without Champions League and to stay here and fight for this club.
‘We must be frustrated. Me, my staff, the players and the club, for this season. You start the season with great expectations. Instead, this season we have struggled.
‘I’m the coach. I’m the first person to take responsibility but I’m not alone. It is very difficult to talk about the future. We must be focused on the present to finish the season as strongly as possible.’
Today is a dress rehearsal for Chelsea’s FA Cup semi-final clash with Southampton at Wembley a week tomorrow. And Southampton manager Mark Hughes is demanding that his players forget the cup tie in their desperate pursuit of Premier League survival.
Hughes said: ‘The next game is the most important because that’s clearly the situation we’re in.
‘We’re not looking too far ahead because we can’t. Our sole focus is about going up against a good Chelsea team who will test us.
‘Their recent results suggest maybe their focus has diminished but top teams have a certain focus on them that demands they play to a certain level.’ CHELSEA protested formally to UEFA yesterday over the treatment of their fans at the Champions League match in Barcelona last month. The club said supporters had complained of ‘brutality’ by stewards and police.