Chelsea Coach Antonio Conte believes “this Premier League is possibly the most difficult ever”.
The former Italy CT took over at Stamford Bridge this summer, and took his side to the top of the League at the weekend with a 1-0 win over Middlesbrough.
“I’m particularly happy for the players, because first place isn’t just a reward for our work, but sign that we’re on the right track,” Conte told Gazzetta dello Sport.
Chelsea Coach Antonio Conte believes “this Premier League is possibly the most difficult ever”.
The former Italy CT took over at Stamford Bridge this summer, and took his side to the top of the League at the weekend with a 1-0 win over Middlesbrough.
“I’m particularly happy for the players, because first place isn’t just a reward for our work, but sign that we’re on the right track,” Conte told Gazzetta dello Sport.
“We can’t forget though, that a month and a half ago, after defeats to Liverpool and Arsenal, the weather was gloomy.
“Can we win the League? It won’t be easy. In the race for the title there are six teams. One will win, another three will go into the Champions League and the last two in the Europa League.
“This Premier League is possibly the most difficult ever. We have to take on Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City, Tottenham and Manchester United.
“There isn’t a League in the world with this level of quality. I want to show the club they’ve done well to focus on Antonio Conte for the next three years. That’s even more important than titles.”
Since switching to a 3-4-3, Chelsea have won every game without conceding a single goal…
“My starting choice was 4-2-4. I wanted to repeat the script of Bari, Siena and initially at Juve. Then we switched to 3-5-2 and finally we hit on 3-4-3 because it’s the best shape for this team.
“Ideas are the basis of our work, but you have to take the characteristics of the players into account.
“I’ve always considered balance a fundamental skill for a team. The two phases, offensive and defensive, are equally important and interact with each other.
“The first defenders are the strikers in terms of winning the ball back, and the strikers often work of the movement of the defenders.
“I repeat though: Chelsea are being lauded now, but after defeats to Liverpool and Arsenal there was already talk about failure.”