UK Edition
Antonio Conte worries squad not big enough to compete as Chelsea handed nightmare run
Antonio Conte has received a sharp reminder that a week is a long time in football with Chelsea facing a nightmare Premier League and Champions League run, and Alvaro Morata out with a back injury.
Just seven days ago, Conte was preparing his side to try to secure top spot in Group C on the back of six victories in seven Premier League games and Morata’s first goal in four matches.
But Chelsea have been punished for failing to beat Atletico Madrid at Stamford Bridge last Tuesday night by drawing Barcelona in the last-16 of the Champions League.
The draw means Chelsea will have to play Barcelona twice and Manchester City and Manchester United away in just over three weeks, and Conte is already worried that his squad is not big enough to cope.
Conte will be without Morata for Tuesday night’s Premier League trip to Huddersfield Town, as the Blues attempt to bounce back from the defeat to West Ham United that the Italian believes ended any hope of retaining the title.
“I think we have to face the reality and will try to do our best,” said Conte. “If I stay here to complain it is not the right way. We have to try to do our best.
“For sure, it is difficult because to face a game every three days is not simple, especially if your squad is not big, but at the same time we have to face this situation.
“We have to try to do our best. For sure some players can be tired, that’s normal because some players are playing from this summer and our tours in China and Singapore. It’s normal. But, I repeat, we have to find the best solution. We have to find more rotations. I’m doing this, we will try and do our best with hunger and desire. We will fight.
“Last season, we faced the season with 13 players, 13 players played regularly. This season we tried to add two or three players to be 16 or 17 to try to face every competition.
“When you are starting a path, you must have patience and then to build and to put one or two players. It is not simple to face all competitions in a moment where you are building.”
Chelsea will look to keep building in January with the club preparing a new offer for Everton midfielder Ross Barkley, still interested in wantaway Juventus left-back Alex Sandro and searching for another striker.
But Conte refused to discuss January targets and insisted his focus is concentrated solely on the challenge ahead.
“Our priority must be the League and try to stay up and fight for a Champions League place,” said Conte. “That must be our priority and when it will be the moment to play Barcelona, then we will think about that game.
“We have to be very realistic that this League is very dangerous. We have to go game by game and play every game with 120 per cent of our strength, or we risk to have a bad surprise at the end of the season.”
Morata was a doubt for the West Ham defeat after struggling with a virus last week and missed a good chance during an off-colour performance.
Conte confirmed his top scorer will not face Huddersfield by saying: “Morata is out because he’s a bit tired and there is a problem in his back. He is out.”
Returning to the subject of the difficulty of juggling the Premier League and the Champions League, Conte added: “I think when you play every three days it is impossible to have a training session and to work on the physical aspects. It’s impossible, it’s impossible because you have to prepare with the players for a game every three days.
“For example, we played against West Ham on Saturday and on Sunday the group that played against West Ham were rested. Then on Monday, we had just 50 minutes of training for the players who played against West Ham to prepare for Huddersfield.
“It is normal that you play with the same players and then they also lose some physical condition. It is normal.”