Chelsea
boss Antonio Conte is determined to ensure his Premier League champions do
not suffer another "Mourinho season" and slump from first place to 10th.
The Blues won the title in 2014/15 under Portuguese coach Jose Mourinho -
now in charge of Manchester United - when he returned to Stamford Bridge for
a second spell as manager.
However, Chelsea picked up just 11 points from their first 12 league games
the following season and Mourinho departed in December, with the London club
finishing in mid-table under Guus Hiddink.
Conte, 47, who won the Premier League at the first time of asking following
his appointment last summer, is wary of letting his players repeat that fall
from grace.
Following Chelsea's 2-1 friendly defeat by Inter Milan in Singapore on
Saturday, the Italian said: "We know the difficulty of the next season and
for sure we want to avoid the Mourinho season with Chelsea.
"Personally, I want to try to avoid the last two seasons. Because two
coaches were sacked, from Chelsea and then from Leicester after they won the
league. For sure I want to avoid that.
"And we are working very well. I hope to find the best solution in the
future. We have a lot of young players and then if it's necessary we have to
try to improve these players."
Conte believes record signing Alvaro Morata still has plenty of work to do
ahead of the new campaign, which kicks off against Arsenal in the Community
Shield next weekend.
"Morata has just started training with us and has only been able to improve
slightly in that time," Conte said.
"He has a long way to go with his physical condition to get up to speed with
the style of football we play. He is working very well and today he tried
his best but he still has plenty of improving to do."
Chelsea fly back to England on the back of two straight pre-season defeats -
a 3-2 loss to Bayern Munich and the 2-1 reverse at the hands of Inter, for
whom Stevan Jovetic and Ivan Perisic scored.
Geoffrey Kondogbia then inadvertently recorded a consolation for Chelsea
with his comical own goal.
Conte, who did oversee a 3-0 friendly win against Arsenal last week, blamed
fatigue at the end of a month spent training and playing in hot conditions
in the Far East.
"We played against two strong teams in Bayern Munich and Inter Milan in a
period that is very important as we are working very hard," said the former
Juventus boss.
"To play three games with the same players means you finish and are tired.
We are tired, very tired."
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