Antonio
Conte admits he must address Chelsea's defensive issues and "find a
solution" after their 3-0 defeat to Arsenal on Saturday.
The Blues were second best in the opening 45 minutes, with an early mistake
from Gary Cahill allowing Alexis Sanchez to open the scoring.
Conte brought on summer signing Marcos Alonso early in the second half and
also changed to three at the break.
Despite not conceding again, though, the Blues could not get back into the
game.
"I have to solve the situation," said Conte. "The situation is that, every
game, we concede minimum three goals. Two at the back, three at the back,
four at the back, I don't care. I just have to solve this.
"I must find the right solution for this team because, in every game, we are
conceding two goals minimum. I work a lot to find the right solution."
While Chelsea were unconvincing at the back, Conte was reluctant to place
all of the blame on the defenders.
"I think that it's not good to talk about the defenders because it's more
important to talk about the whole team," he said. "Because we are a team. We
win as a team, and we lose in the same way.
"We started the game in a bad way and, from the first minute, it was very
strange. Today Arsenal v Chelsea is a massive game. When we play this type
of game, against a team who are very good like Arsenal, you must concentrate
from the first minute. Today it did not happen.
"We must work. We must work a lot. A lot. If someone thinks that this season
it's going to be easy... we must work a lot to improve, to change the
situation. Now we are a great team only on paper, not on the pitch. To be a
great team, I prefer to be a great team not only on paper but also on the
pitch.
"The pitch is the truth. The pitch speaks. The pitch is the most important
thing for us: not the words, not on paper. We must change this...We know
there are many difficulties, but if we understand this we are in a good
position to recover and change the situation."
The defeat is Chelsea's second in a row in the league and Conte hopes his
side can learn from them and bounce back.
"I think we must work a lot to find some continuity," he said. "I think
that, now, the most important thing is to work and not think about other
situations. We must show on the pitch that we are a great team.
"Two defeats in two big games. For this reason, we must understand the
moment and understand we need to work a lot to improve and change our
story."
Chelsea's defensive woes once again bring to the fore the absence of John
Terry, who was not declared fit enough to feature as he completes his
recovery from an ankle ligament injury.
"John is recovering from a bad injury but I don't like to talk about players
that today didn't play," Conte said.
"I don't like this. I think this is a lack of respect for the players today
who played bad or good."
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