Chelsea

Antonio Conte keen to avoid 'Jose Mourinho season'

By Barney Corkhill, Editor | 30 July 2017

Chelsea manager Antonio Conte warns his side to learn from the mistakes of their most recent title defence, when Jose Mourinho was sacked before the turn of the year.

Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has warned his side against making the same mistakes as they did during their most recent Premier League title defence during the upcoming campaign.

The Blues stormed to the title under Jose Mourinho in 2014-15, but by December of the following season he had been sacked after a dismal start to their defence which left the club teetering just above the relegation zone.

Leicester City went on to lift the trophy in stunning fashion that year, but their manager Claudio Ranieri also failed to make it through the next campaign and Conte is keen to avoid becoming the latest title-winning manager to get the axe.

"We know the next season will be tough and we want to avoid what happened in the previous season for Chelsea, two years ago, when the team finished in 10th place in the Premier League," he told reporters.

"We want to try to avoid this. I want to try to avoid what happened two seasons ago. Two coaches have been sacked from Chelsea and Leicester after winning the league and I want to avoid this and the players want to avoid the bad season they had with Mourinho.

"We are working very well and we hope to find the best solution in the future. We have a lot of young players and if necessary we will have to try to play these players."

Chelsea's first match of their title defence comes at home to Burnley on August 12.