With numerous rumours circulating in the press surrounding Antonio Conte’s future as Chelsea manager, the club has squashed the reports as absolute nonsense. The Italian manager, who is signed to the club until the summer of 2019, has had a mixed start to the season, starting the season off well with three consecutive wins that were quickly followed by key losses in September, to Liverpool and Arsenal.
Chelsea and Belgium’s attacking sensation Eden Hazard has leapt to the defense of his current boss, Conte, hailing the coach as a good motivator and the right man to bring the club back to the Champions League, after a turbulent last season that saw the playmaker, Hazard, suffer a major drop in form and saw Chelsea finish outside the top 6.
Conte has told Hazard to be more decisive in the final third and find the form that saw him win the PFA Player of the two years ago. In Belgium’s recent outing, new national manager Roberto Martinez deployed Hazard in a number 10 position where he rediscovered some of the magic that he is known all over the world for. After the game, Hazard was quick to point out that he felt free in the position and had a larger, more positive outlook on the game as well as an explosive impact.
For Chelsea, under Conte, he’s a wide left man asked to cut in or run at full backs to deliver crosses into the box for Costa, when asked for his view on the Chelsea system, he replied, “if the that’s the job to be done, it will be done”, going on to add he’s willing to work for the team. Chelsea have shipped in 9 goals in the last seven league games and the manager is wary that he needs to sort out his problems at the back when the champions visit the Bridge.
Chelsea come up against defending champions Leicester City, which will be the first meeting between the two sides, with two Italian head coaches at the helm, in Conte and Ranieri. The latter has 15 years of coaching experience over his counterpart and has come up against him in the past when the two managed clubs in Italy.
No strangers to big games, this is a crucial match for both teams and managers who have suffered similar starts to the campaign are eager to kick on and kick start their respective seasons.
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