DON’T CALL ME A LIAR!
Conte fury at Luiz bust-up claims
ANTONIO CONTE lost his cool over David Luiz yesterday, saying: Don’t call me a liar!
The Chelsea boss blasted as nonsense suggestions he has fallen out with the Brazilian and insisted the defender is only out of the team because he is injured.
He even took the extraordinary step of promising to call on the club doctor to back him up if Blues fans don’t believe him.
The Italian said: “To stop this, I think it’s right to call the doctor and to have a conference with the doctor. I think this is a good idea.
“I understand that someone is thinking that I’m not telling the truth. I’m disappointed about this, but I can understand it.
Unhappy
“I’m disappointed because I like to tell you the truth at every moment. I’d like to tell you a bad truth rather than a good lie.
“I think we can call the doctor and organise a conference with him to explain the medical situation of all my players.
“This way I can avoid having to answer this question and the atmosphere of, ‘It’s not true what he’s telling us’.”
Luiz was unhappy at being dropped against Manchester United last month before suffering a knee injury, with Conte saying he has no idea when he could return.
But the Blues boss admits there are no guarantees Luiz will get straight back into the team when he is fully fit because Andreas Christensen is playing so well in his absence. Conte added: “I have to make the best decision for the team and the club.
“We have to play a lot of games and there is space, the opportunity, to play games for every player.
“I think that every player must be very happy not to play for Chelsea but to stay in the squad for Chelsea. It means you stay in a big team, in a great team.
“It’s normal that, when you’re in a great team, there is a lot of competition. The coach can decide only for 11 players. This is normal.
“I don’t like when you ask me if one player is not happy or if I have to find something to make him happy because I think we must all be happy because we are living this atmosphere.
“We are doing a fantastic job. We earn a lot of money. We must be very, very, very happy whether they play or not play.
‘‘I understand all players want to play but we must be 1,000 times happy to have this job and this life – me and my family and the players and their families.”
Luiz is training on his own and will miss today’s clash with Southampton, but Alvaro Morata could return from a back injury.
Conte said: “He is better and has trained with us. He has this pain in his back but he is in contention for the Southampton game.”