Antonio Conte refused to rule out Chelsea’s chances of winning the Premier League this season after former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson excluded them from his list of potential candidates.
During an interview with German publication Kicker, Manchester United legend Sir Alex Ferguson spoke about the Premier League race this term and stated who he believed were the potential candidates for the title this season.
According to Sky Sports, he said: “I think there are five potential candidates. Manchester City as favourites, Tottenham and Liverpool, but also United are still there if we get some consistency soon. Even when you are trailing by six, eight points, it’s still possible to catch one or two teams.”
He refused to rule out Arsenal, still being led by his once fierce rival Arsene Wenger. “And you shouldn’t forget Arsenal,” he continued. “The team is more sturdy. They’ve got better and more aggressive. I’m impressed with the young boy Alex Iwobi.” He also went on to heap praise on Spurs’ manager Mauricio Pochettino, saying that he has great potential and some promising young players to work with.
Speaking ahead of Chelsea’s clash against Southampton, Antonio Conte insisted that he respected the opinion of the legendary Scotsman, but refused to rule his side out of the running.
“I respect a lot what he said, but I know that we are working very well,” the Italian is quoted by saying by Sky Sports. “I think now we are now in a good way to improve a lot and to become a team that can stay (in contention for the title) until the end to get something. We must be ambitious. But to be ambitious you must work a lot.”
Title contenders?
Conte has endured a mixed first season in the Premier League so far. After a bright start, Chelsea trailed off and weren’t able to register a single Premier League victory in September. Heavy losses against Arsenal and Liverpool forced a change in formation, which has helped revive this Chelsea squad and they have since managed to register big wins against Leicester City, Hull City and a memorable 4-0 thumping of Manchester United.
As things stand, Chelsea are 5th on the league table. Should the Blues win against Southampton on Sunday, they would go up to 4th place ahead of London rivals Tottenham Hotspur. The Blues would also be just one point behind Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City, who all have 23 points.
Needless to say, the failure to acquire many of their primary transfer targets has made life infinitely difficult for Antonio Conte, but to his credit, he has slowly but steadily managed to turn things around with the players at his disposal.
He has seemingly begun to get the best out of players like Diego Costa, Victor Moses and Pedro. Even key players like Eden Hazard and Nemanja Matic are slowly getting back to their 2014/15 form. However, Chelsea’s defensive frailties are all too obvious and the January transfer window can be seen as an extremely important time for the club to acquire reinforcements and make a final push for the title.
Conte is famous for turning around the fortunes of Juventus, who had finished 7th in the Serie A in the two seasons prior to his appointment as manager. Under his leadership, Juventus returned to the summit of Italian football in 2012, where they have remained ever since. In his three years as Juventus manager, Conte won 5 major trophies with the Bianconeri and established them as a top European side, before moving on to take over Italy.
Conte is without a shadow of a doubt the best manager Chelsea could have appointed to take them back to the glory days. His record at Juventus and Italy proves it, and his passionate touchline antics and his bond with the fans have already made him a Stamford Bridge favourite.
Numerous articles have been written about his work ethic, his passion and his obsession with winning — perfectly summed up by the fact that he named his daughter ‘Vittoria‘, which literally translates to ‘victory’ in English.
The Blues’ track record for hiring and firing managers has given Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich the tag of ‘trigger-happy dictator’. But after over a decade of managerial turmoil which included the appointment of 9 different managers, even he, like the fans, will know that Conte is Chelsea’s best chance at becoming the great European force they once were.
On this form, Chelsea are well on their way to securing a Champions League place finish, which is the minimum requirement. Success and silverware are sure to follow him either this season or the next, and should Chelsea be able to lure quality players in January, the Blues can make a genuine case for winning two out of three domestic honours this season.