Liverpool legend Graeme Souness said newly appointed Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has a tough job on his hand at Chelsea.
The Italy coach was announced as Chelsea manager on Monday, and will replace interim coach Guus Hiddink who was appointed after Jose Mourinho’s sacking in the middle of the season following a poor run of form that took the club close to the relegation battle.
Conte, who has had success with Italian giants Juventus and is currently gearing up for Euro 2016, will have problems at Chelsea as the squad is below average, claims Graeme Souness.
“I think he’s (Conte’s) got a monster job on now. Chelsea this year have been disappointing to say the least,” the Liverpool great told Sky Sports.
“They started as champions and never really got going. When Hiddink came in you thought all their problems would be solved but they weren’t.”
“They’ve been up and down all season, even with the lift a new manager gives you.”
Under Jose Mourinho, the Blues slipped to the bottom half of the table, but Hiddink’s stint has brought Chelsea to 10th in the English Premier League table. With Champions League out of the question, Souness believes that Conte has to spend in the transfer window to revive the 4 time Premier League Champions again.
“Conte coming in, unless he can go out and buy some real quality, it will be another up and down season for Chelsea.”
On Mourinho
Souness claims that Jose Mourinho was given a below par Chelsea squad and the team’s inability led to Mourinho being fired as they failed to perform consistently.
“I think Jose saw the writing on the wall, he knew he had been lucky to win the league last year, he must have driven them, cajoled them, bullied them, to get to that point to win it, and at the start of the season he wanted more players and better players, and for some reason he didn’t get them,” Souness said.
“That must have been the reason he fell out with whoever he ended up falling out with, and that would include the players.”
“Looking back, Jose was right, because that group were not good enough to go and retain the title this year.”
