Chelsea 3-3 Roma: Conte’s Post-Match Thoughts
Reuters / Tony O’Brien
Things have certainly heated up between current Chelsea manager Antonio Conte and former boss Jose Mourinho, and it will be interesting to see who takes the upper hand when both their sides clash on November 5 at Stamford Bridge.
Mourinho appeared to take a thinly-veiled dig at Conte after his side’s 1-0 win against Benfica in the UEFA Champions League last night, by saying he wouldn’t ‘cry’ about injuries like some other managers. The Portuguese didn’t specify that he was talking about the Italian, but Conte certainly has bemoaned the losses of Alvaro Morata, Victor Moses, Danny Drinkwater, and N’Golo Kante to injuries.
The ex-Juve boss was quick to react to Mourinho’s comments after his side’s 3-3 draw at home against Roma, urging the former Chelsea manager to stop talking about the Blues, and focus on his side.
“A lot of time Mourinho has to see what happens at Chelsea,” Conte stated. “A lot of time, also last season. I think he has to think about his team and stop… to look at himself, not the others.”
Chelsea surrendered a two-goal lead against a mighty Roma, earned through strikes from David Luiz and Eden Hazard, to trail 3-2 with 20 minutes remaining. Conte, who used Luiz in midfield, admitted his tactics contributed to Chelsea being second best. When the Brazilian went off for Pedro, Chelsea reverted to their usual 3-4-3 formation.
“I didn’t like the type of football we did for a lot of the game, but it’s right to take the responsibility for this,” Conte said. “I tried on one hand to protect my team, to become more solid and to move our central defender into midfield.
“On the other hand, we lost totally our style of football. It was good to draw. Roma deserved this result. I have to praise my players, because my players showed me a big effort, a big commitment tonight. Otherwise, we lose the game.”
David Luiz, Gary Cahill and Tiémoué Bakayoko all ended the Roma draw carrying new knocks too, with Conte admitting his team are now in “an emergency situation”.
Written by Himangshu Das 
Following dream off the pitch by penning down all the latest happenings inside the world of the beautiful game known as Football, trying to make it big.. one day.