LEICESTER v CHELSEA I’LL GIVE EM FIVE Flowers: After four final defeats Leicester are up for the Cup
Conte: I must see improvement
with the work done by himself and his team.
The Italian won the Premier League in his first campaign but has endured a turbulent second season.
The Blues face a fight to finish in the top four – and Conte also insists silverware is not the be all and end all.
He said: “For sure, we have to try to win the FA Cup but I repeat: it’s not important.
“A lot of times we compare good seasons and bad seasons on if you win something. Last season we did a fantastic job. Every player performed 120 per cent, maybe 130 per cent.
“But also in this season we are doing a fantastic job, a great job.
“Then, if you are able to win something, it’s good, but you have to understand what is your position in this moment.
“If you remember, we lost a lot of players, old players, that created a basis for Chelsea for a long time.
“Now we are trying to build a basis, trying to get the fundamentals right. For this reason we have a lot of young players with a lack of experience when you play against teams like Barcelona.”
Groaning
Conte, whose side crashed out of the Champions League last week after a 4-1 aggregate defeat by Barca, has spent much of this season groaning that he didn’t get the signings he wanted after winning the title.
And he has made no secret of the fact he does not believe his squad can TIM FLOWERS says the smell of success is still in Leicester City’s nostrils as they attempt to overturn one of the most unwanted FA Cup records.
Claude Puel’s side are just two victories from the final, a fixture the club have played in – and lost – on four occasions.
But ex- England keeper Flowers (below) says that the Foxes’ unlikely Premier League triumph in 2016 will have stirred passions in the players and left them hungry for more.
He said: “Leicester qualified for three League Cup finals in four years under Martin O’Neill. The players who appeared in that first League Cup against Middlesbrough in 1997 wanted some more. It did give players a taste of success. And, unsurprisingly, they wanted to feel that again.”
Flowers won the League Cup with O’Neill in 2000 as part of a group which was pulled together for a fraction of the £30million the club paid Sporting Lisbon for Islam Slimani 20 months ago.
Incredible
He said: “When you look at the team we had and what it was put together for, then i t’s incredible to think what we achieved. “I wasn’t playing at Blackburn, Matt Elliott came from Oxford. Gerry Taggart was in the reserves at Barnsley, Steve Guppy was at Wycombe. Muzzy Izzet came from Chelsea’s reserves. Neil Lennon and Robbie Savage from Crewe. “That was the genius of Martin O’Neill. But I think that the role of his assistant, John Robertson, shouldn’t be underestimated. They were experts in identifying players and then rinsing everything out of it. “Sometimes we wouldn’t see Martin for days. But you knew he was around. And he knew what was going on all the time. “But on matchday, he was electric. He was a fabulous person to be around. He absolutely came alive.” 1949 W olves 3 1961 Spurs 2 1963 Man Utd 3 1969 Man City 1 1964 Leicester 4 1965 Leicester 2 1997 Leicester 1 1998 Leicester 0 2000 Leicester 2 Leicester Leicester Leicester 1 Leicester 1 0 0 Stoke 3+ Chelsea 3+ M’boro 0* Spurs 1 Tranmere 1 compete with Manchester City. He added: “It’s not important if I want to add another trophy.
“The most important thing is to work very hard, to try to improve the club and the players.
“Everyone wants to win something when you start the season.
“But I’m very satisfied for my job, for the work we’re doing – me, the staff, my players.
“Don’t forget this season has confirmed one thing – last season was an incredible achievement.”