Antonio Conte says it is no surprise that Chelsea lag behind Tottenham in the Premier League table because many members of his young squad have not yet developed a winning personality.
The manager suggested that last season’s title triumph in his first season at Stamford Bridge was slightly freakish and said the club is still rebuilding following the loss in recent years of serial champions, with John Terry, Branislav Ivanovic and Petr Cech among those to depart.
“We are having the season that we are deserving,” said Conte, who accepts that with his team trailing Spurs by five points before the teams’ clash at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, Chelsea probably need to win all of their remaining matches to reach next season’s Champions League. He said that Spurs, where Mauricio Pochettino has been in situ for two years longer than Conte has been at Chelsea, are at a more advanced stage of development.
“It is only a problem of time,” said Conte. “Don’t forget in the last two or three years we lost important players for Chelsea. When you lose important players with great experience and charisma and players used to winning, you lose a lot.”
He said several of the players signed during his tenure do not yet have the experience needed to conquer regularly. “[Davide] Zappacosta is a clear example for this type of situation. We are talking about a young player, a player who is in the first season to play Champions League and maybe international games.
“But I think in this team there are many good players. For example, Emerson Palmieri. He’s a young player with a really good prospect but he needs to improve in many aspects. Andreas Christiansen is another, and Tiémoué Bakayoko is 22 years old. Antonio Rudiger [age 25] is not an old player. We have a lot of young players that need to make experience and to improve, not only on the pitch, but charisma and personality. You can do this only if you play important games.
“Last season we were very good but maybe it was a fantastic season for us. In this season, we are deserving to play for this target [fourth place] but for sure everyone is trying to do our best in this season to get the best target possible for us. I want to do this.”
Asked whether he will still be at Stamford Bridge to oversee the required development, especially if Chelsea fail to finish in the top four, Conte said: “I don’t know, I must be honest, I don’t know. This is not my problem. It’s a problem for the club.”
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