Although the game today against Tottenham was only the second of the season, the fact that Chelsea had lost the first, against Burnley, had seen the media already write our obituary.
Conte would have known there was pressure on him to get a result today, the expectation levels at Stamford Bridge are high.
After the game, Antonio spoke to the media, firstly thanking the players, remarking,
‘First of all I want to thank my players because their commitment, their desire and heart they put on the pitch was incredible in what has been a very difficult moment for us. I am very pleased with the will to fight for every ball and they showed me the desire of last season is still there.
‘Our fans were incredible today to push us in every moment and a good day for us.”
When pushed on what went wrong last week Antonio added,
‘Honestly, the game against Burnley we outplayed them, just look at the stats. We had 62% possession and had eight shots and created more chances despite playing with 10 men. It was a bad first half but the performance in the second half was pleasing. Today I asked them to show me spirit and they did.’
Antonio then went on to praise individual players, starting with David Luiz who was pushed into a midfield role designed to stifle Spurs, commenting,
‘His performance was amazing. He played with great discipline, intelligence and in a difficult game with a new system, he was amazing.”
And on two of the summer signings, starting with Alvaro Morata,
‘He could have scored but his work was incredible. For sure he can improve a lot but he showed his physicality and his technique in a difficult game.”
And then Tiemoue Bakayoko,
‘He worked a lot in the last 10 days and I saw a lot of improvement from him otherwise I would not have started him. He can improve and adapt to our football.’
Finishing, Conte responded to a question relating to the response to recent events, explaining,
‘This is a perfect response of the champions. We won the league last season, winning 30 games, and that is not easy. We lost in the final of the FA Cup. We have arrived in some problems with bans and injuries but we must be ready to work and focus on the pitch. The club is trying its best in the transfer market to improve our squad but I must be happy.”
Up the Chels!
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