Newcastle: With Chelsea’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League hanging by a slender thread, the future of their manager Antonio Conte is the main topic of conversation around Stamford Bridge. There has been constant speculation that his second season with Chelsea could well be his last.
The equation is quite simple ahead of Sunday’s final day of the Premier League season; victory for Chelsea at Newcastle and defeat for fourth-placed Liverpool at home to Brighton would secure a Champions League berth for the west Londoners. A Liverpool draw however would consign fifth-placed Chelsea to the dubious consolation prize of Europa League football.
Conte appears to have all but accepted that is the most likely scenario, but the Blues boss insisted Friday that the club are still in a better position than when he arrived.
“There are six top teams at the start of the season ready to fight for a place in the Champions League,” Conte said. “Failing to make the Champions League can happen. In the past, it happened. Don’t forget two years ago, Chelsea (under Jose Mourinho) ended the season 10th and not in the FA Cup final, not in the semifinals of the League Cup, and they were eliminated in the last 16 against PSG in the Champions League. It can happen.”
The Italian pointed out that Chelsea are much better off during his two-year tenure. “Are Chelsea in a better place now? For sure they are, we worked two years and worked very hard to try to build something, to create a base,” Conte asserted.
“I have to work very hard with my players, and it’s for other people to see the situation, judge the situation, take the right evaluation after two years of work, and then understand which is now Chelsea’s position in the panoramic of football. Now, probably, you can finish fifth and start with a bit of an advantage compared to when you finish 10th.”
I’ve been living with the speculation from the start of the season that this will be my last term at Chelsea. I’ve not allowed it to bother me
Antonio Conte
