It was bound to happen sooner or later and it eventually did. The only sad part would have been the fact that it was at home and against a fierce rival like Liverpool. The Blues wanted to make a positive start to the game at Stamford Bridge, though it was Jurgen Klopp’s tactics that got the better of them, after the hard fought 2-2 draw at the Liberty Stadium last weekend.
Antonio Conte’s side looked the second best team clearly through the first half and though they did surely improve in the second, it was not enough to help them take back anything back from the match.
It would have been disappointing for the home side losing the encounter, after a much rejuvenated performance post a strong half-time team talk.
With Jordan Henderson and Philippe Coutinho netting in the opening 45 and Diego Costa pulling one back after the break, the game was close and exciting, yet it ended in a win for the Reds.
With the Italian manager suffering his first defeat with the Premier League giants, that too in west London, all eyes were on Conte and what he would say as he spoke to the media after the game.
He did not really disappoint with his words, as he stated the facts and pointed out what went wrong for his team and how they should recuperate in order to get better results in the upcoming matches.
He stated, “In the first half I must be honest, I think we gave away two goals.”
“When you give away two goals in this way, it’s very difficult. Liverpool are a good team and these are tough games.”
“You must pay attention in every second. The details make the difference and in this case we paid a lot.”
On his tactics of bringing on a late triple substitution, though it did not really work he was full of confidence and said, “In other games we scored late goals, for this reason I waited and then changed three players.”
“In the past this happened. This time it didn’t happen.”
“It is not important if this defeat is my first. It’s OUR defeat. There are the players, the manager, the staff.”
“Every single game is very tough. We mustn’t forget last season. Last season was a bad season. I don’t want to repeat last season.”
“When you finish a season in 10th, there is something strange. It’s not simple. It means you have to work hard to improve.”
Not playing the blame game and in an attempt at boosting the morale of the team, he also did look to suggest that, “This season the manager and players must take responsibility. We win together, we lose together. It’s important to understand.”
“We must feel the danger in every single moment of the game if we want to win like a great team.”
Also, with respect to the tactics he utilized in the match and what he had in mind, Conte claimed, “I wanted to change one central midfielder and to put two wingers on. The chance could be also Batshuayi and not Moses or Pedro.”
Though the former Premier League champs suffered a defeat against the Merseyside outfit, they can still recover in the games to come. The season has just started and the Londoners have done well so far overall.
With skipper John Terry was surely missed, there is no excuse for the loss which could have still been avoided with the quality that Chelsea had on the pitch in the game, if only they had started off well in the first half.
Chelsea spent a good amount of money in the summer transfer window in order to reinforce various areas of their squad on the pitch, in an attempt to improve from last season’s horror.
A loss is a loss, yet if Conte does keep this positive attitude going and it is infectious onto his players as well, his team can surely make something happen this term and win some silverware.
As stated above, the Londoners will now face off against the Foxes next in the third round of the League Cup at the King Power Stadium on the 20th of September and will want to secure a place in the fourth.
It will be quite interesting to see whether they can recover from this defeat or not, after such strong words being portrayed by their manager, as he suffered his first loss in England since joining the club this summer.
