When you head off to face a team like Burnley, built on the grit of a manager like Sean Dyche, the last thing you want to do, is do his work for him. Tonight’s game will be tough enough, without doing the opposition team talk for them.
So, Antonio Conte does his usual pre-match presser and proceeds to praise Dyche, for doing well with a side, whom no one expects anything from. He then tells everyone, his job is much harder, because of the high expectation.
“He is doing an important job. A great job this season. But if you start the season fighting to avoid the relegation zone, it is more simple.
It is more simple, because you have to avoid the last three places at the bottom and then you can stay between 10 teams. And then, if you have a good base and in the previous season you played very well, you can count on this basis.
But it is more difficult when you have to prepare the transfer market to win something because only one team wins and, if the other doesn’t win, you are the first to speak about a failed season.
If you don’t win the FA Cup, the league title, or the League Cup, it is a failure and, for this reason, it is more difficult to play for this target.”
Source: The Daily Mirror
That’s pinned up on the home dressing room wall for all to see. Good work Antonio. At least coming into the game Burnley are favourites. They are the form team and knocking on the door of a Europa League spot.
With Chelsea’s poor season having started with a home loss to the Clarets, Conte’s side will be keen exact some kind of retribution, you would hope. A win for Chelsea leaves them just 5 points behind Spurs in that chase for fourth place in the Premier League. A win for Burnley will see them leapfrog Arsenal into sixth spot. There’s a lot to play for.
It will be interesting to see how Burnley cope with being the favourites against one of the ‘so called’ big teams. Of course a lot will depend team selection as far as Chelsea are concerned. We saw on Saturday two different sides during the game. We will have to wait to see which one turns up tonight. Come on Chelsea!!!