Antonio Conte has been speaking ahead of tomorrow`s opening day contest against Burnley at Stamford Bridge. With various issues to cover Conte had a lot to deal with. These quotes taken from the Official Chelsea Website.
First off, he spoke about Pedro`s availability for tomorrow’s game.
“Pedro is not available because he is suffering with an injury from the Arsenal game and he wasn`t able to recover, it`s a knock on his ankle.”
The ever diminishing squad gets slightly smaller. With Victor Moses also suspended the Italian spoke about the possibility of a debut for Antonio Rudiger.
“Because we miss Moses for one game it could be an opportunity for Rudiger to start, I`ve been impressed so far, he`s a good player. He`s strong physically, he has a good personality and great technique.”
So, maybe starting with four at the back. He then went onto talk about Alvaro Morata and how he is getting on and whether he`s ready to start,
“It`s normal for the players that when they start to work with me, they need time to adapt to our style. Alvaro is working well and has improved a lot over the last 10 days in terms of his physical condition. He is starting to understand what I want from him during the game but for sure he needs time to adapt. For me, the striker has a really important role and it`s important for them to understand what positions I want them to take up. This role is more difficult to adapt to than others.”
So that`s no, he won`t start, or is it just kidology. Conte was also asked about how the squad in general were doing.
“Honestly, I`m pleased because we are working very well with the team and this group of players. Their commitment is incredible, even better than last season and I`m very happy because these players are working so hard. We are trying to improve.”
That leaves us to assess who will come into the team as replacements for Pedro and Moses and how Conte will set the team up. Football`s back. KTBFFH!!
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