Jamie
Carragher believes Chelsea need to stay calm and not replicate the toxic
situation which eventually led to Jose Mourinho's sacking.
Chelsea endured a nightmare start to their Premier League title defence as
they suffered a 3-2 defeat at home to Burnley on Saturday.
Antonio Conte has cut a frustrated figure since the end of last season and
the Italian is now among the bookmakers' favourites to be the first Premier
League manager to leave his position this season.
Comparisons have been drawn between the current situation and the one
immediately after Mourinho won the Premier League in 2015. There was a huge
amount of negative stories around the club at that time, including a public
fallout between Mourinho and then club doctor Eva Carneiro.
With a daunting
Nissan Super Sunday clash against Tottenham to come
at the weekend, Carragher thinks Chelsea could do with a quiet build-up to
the game.
"Chelsea need to do the exact opposite of panicking," Carragher said on
Monday Night Football.
"A couple of seasons ago when they drew with Swansea on the opening day and
they had the incident with the club doctor, all of sudden it felt like
Chelsea were under pressure. I felt like people were fanning the flames. The
story was getting bigger and bigger until Jose Mourinho eventually lost his
job.
"They've lost one game at home - they should be thinking now 'relax'.
"They've got two games between now and the transfer window shutting. Antonio
Conte needs to get two players in - they need strengthening, especially in
the wing-back positions.
"They need to stop this tidal wave of negativity. The way Conte is speaking
to the press you know something isn't right.
"That's got to stop. They've got to remember it's only one defeat and
they've got to get their heads back on. As Conte has said, they don't want
another Jose season."
Chelsea haven't lost their first two games of a season since 1973, but that
record will come under threat against title rivals Tottenham at Wembley on
Super Sunday.
Carragher thinks Conte will be more cautious than usual in their approach in
order not to get beat.
"They'll be a lot of pressure on Chelsea going into the game," he said.
"Chelsea have got to go there with a mindset of 'don't get beat - don't lose
two on the bounce'."
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