Is Conte losing the dressing room?
Chelsea players are reportedly unhappy with Antonio Conte for failing to adapt his intense training methods this season to the demands of midweek Champions League fixtures.
The Italian tactician is said to have stuck largely with the same kind of schedule as last season, when the Blues were able to stroll to the title and field the same line up almost every week due to not being in Europe.
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According to The Times, this has led to growing discontent in the Chelsea squad, with the club’s players unhappy at the lack of rest in between matches.
Chelsea are currently on a three-match winless run, losing back-to-back games in the Premier League and then being held to a 3-3 draw by Roma in this week’s Champions League.
As well as blaming Conte for the team’s poor form on the pitch, Chelsea’s players are also reportedly pointing the finger at him for the club’s current injury crisis.
N’Golo Kante, Alvaro Morata, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Victor Moses and David Luiz are all among those struggling with their fitness at various points this season, and some believe that is down to the intensity of Conte’s training sessions.
While such a ferocious approach to training worked with fewer games last season, it seems Conte hasn’t been able to work out a different way of managing his squad this term.
Antonio Conte still at odds with Chelsea board
The Times also claim Conte remains convinced it is the fault of the Chelsea board for failing to help him strengthen in the transfer market over the summer.
Despite bringing in Morata, Bakayoko, Antonio Rudiger, Davide Zappacosta, Danny Drinkwater and Willy Caballero, Conte feels he does not have a deep enough squad to cope with the added playing time this season.
The timing of this revelation is far from ideal for Chelsea, with Transfermarketweb linking Conte with a possible move to take over as Paris Saint-Germain manager.