Antonio Conte launches furious response to suggestions by friend Gianluca Vialli that he wants to leave Chelsea
Conte is under pressure with Chelsea eight points outside the top four
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Your support makes all the difference.Chelsea’s under-pressure manager Antonio Conte has provided a furious and impassioned response to suggestions from his own friend, Gianluca Vialli, that he 'cannot wait to leave' the club.
Vialli, a Chelsea legend who played alongside Conte for Juventus, but who now works as a pundit for Sky Italia, added to the debate around Conte’s future by claiming his compatriot could no longer cop with the club's policy of buying and selling players without consulting him.
However Conte replied ahead of Sunday’s Premier League game against West Ham with a cutting response in which he insisted he remains determined to keep his job.
“With Gianluca, we played together for many years at Juventus, he was my captain, we won the Champions League together and I consider him a friend. But we haven’t spoken in a year. We went once to dinner last season and then I stopped,” he said.
“So sometimes it’s very difficult to understand why. I can be disappointed on one side, but I respect him because he is a journalist, and he is doing his job. He is trying to give his opinion. But this is his opinion. It is not my opinion. The people who stay very close to me they know very well my intentions – to stay, to stay here, to continue my job here. This is the truth. You will see.”
Conte has had to endure this kind of speculation all season, a campaign in which his team has failed miserably to defend their title and instead fallen to fifth in the table, eight points adrift of fourth place after losing at home to Tottenham last weekend.
So, although he did his best to hold back in his criticism of Vialli it was nevertheless clear he is increasingly frustrated by the situation – and by his team’s poor form.
“Those who know me very well, they know that in this moment I am very angry. I am very sad for this situation,” he said. “Those who know me very well know I am trying to put all of myself to change this situation because I have great responsibility. I feel great responsibility for my work, for my family, for everything.
“I repeat, when I go to my house, I know that I gave everything and I am giving everything for this club – 120 per cent, every day, every day. Sometimes, it is very difficult to sleep with these types of problems.”
Chelsea go in Sunday’s home game against London rivals West Ham with only three victories in 2018 and sitting 28 points behind leaders and champions-elect Manchester City. So Conte, who has been vocal in his criticism of Chelsea’s transfer policy which has left him with a thin squad, knows he needs to work hard now to keep his job no matter what the speculation.
“In every season for the final result you have to share the responsibility. With the club, with the coach, with the players,” he said.
“It is impossible to find a fault in only one of these three parts. You have to share and you have to understand which is the percentage of the responsibility between these three parts.
“Now, we are in a situation that we have to try to finish this season in the best possible way because our fans deserve this. Despite a lot of defeats this season, we have to try to put in everything and show great pride because we are Chelsea. Do not give up. It is not my philosophy and I do not want to see not one person to try to give up.”
Chelsea face West Ham without injured David Luiz but with goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and winger Pedro back in the squad.
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