Chelsea: Antonio Conte welcomes title favourites tag with his side top at Christmas
The Italian questioned the belief that being top of the pile at the halfwya point brings unnecessary pressure
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Your support makes all the difference.Antonio Conte insists he welcomes the pressure that comes from leading the Premier League title race and questions the view of rivals who suggest there are benefits to staying off the top of the table.
Conte’s Chelsea side reach Christmas six-points clear after a club record-equalling eleven successive victories ahead of the Boxing Day meeting with Bournemouth. The Italian acknowledges that his side’s remarkable run of form has defied all pre-season expectations but having established a strong position at the head of the table, Conte is more than happy to embrace the tag of title favourites as the season approaches the halfway point.
“I think it's good to be in this position,” Conte said. “I think it's good. I don't trust the people when they say: 'It's important now to stay behind, and there's pressure when you're top.' I'd prefer the pressure of being top of the table, for sure. We earned this position. Now it's important to keep it. It won't be easy for sure.”
Chelsea's record in recent years certainly supports the view, accepted by Conte, that the Stamford Bridge club are now favourites to win the title having finished top in May on each of the four previous occasions they led the table at Christmas.
“I think that we must have the right pressure,” he said. “We all know that, now, we are doing fantastic things because at the start of the season, not one person thought or forecast that Chelsea would stay top of the table, for many reasons. Because the squad was the same as last season's. Because our market wasn't a great market. But I think, in these situations, we found the right balance. Me and my players and the club to try to change the opinion, to try and change the idea of the people. And to try and have a good season.
“But now we are two games away from half way through. So, for this reason, we must have the right pressure. These players, in the past, have had the habit of staying top of the table. It's not the first time for me or my players. But I prefer not to look at the table at this moment, either me or the players. At the start of the season we were anything but favourites. But now, after 11 wins in a row, we are becoming favourites for the title.”
Conte will lose Steve Holland to England at the end of the season when the Italian’s assistant become Gareth Southgate’s full time number two. The Chelsea head coach, who was formerly in charge of Italy, insists he would prefer to keep Holland as part of his staff but said: “This type of situation can arrive only once in the life, to be a coach or assistant coach of your national team and your country. For this reason, I understand him. It's a pity because I've worked very well with him.”
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