Antonio Conte insists he found his first season at Chelsea much harder than the current campaign.
There has been a lot of speculation over Conte's future at Stamford Bridge in recent weeks with Chelsea losing three times in their first nine League games.
Their performances in all competitions have also yet to reach the standard set last term, when the Italian led Chelsea to the title.
But the Chelsea coach doesn't feel that the current issues are the most difficult he's faced since arriving in west London.
He said: "I had a really tough period last season, in many circumstances tougher than now.
"It was tougher at the start because to arrive in a new country, to adapt yourself with a new type of football, new language, new habit it wasn't easy and I found a situation with a lot of troubles.
"Last season I tried to solve these problems. Don't forget, when we won, not one person had predicted this at the start of the season, for our squad after our transfer window.
"We did a really fantastic job, but now we have to try to continue in this way, continue to work and continue to try and solve the problems and create something important for the club.
"It is not easy. Some people can think to win is easy but it is not. You try to ask the winners if it is easy to win, it is a path and you have to follow this path and there is a lot of sacrifice a lot of work, patience, a lot of things."
Unlike last term, Chelsea are having to play three games a week on a regular basis due to being in the Champions League.
The club have sustained more injuries this time around, but Conte hopes to soon have a fully fit squad to choose from again to cope with it.
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As things stands, only Victor Moses (hamstring) will still be on the sidelines when they face Roma in the Champions League next Tuesday.
"Our priority is to overcome this period because we have faced it with a lot of problems," he said.
"I hope to have my players in good physical condition, all players, then to face all three competitions.
"I hope to do this very soon because Danny Drinkwater is almost (100 per cent) ready and N'Golo Kante is almost at the stage to come back with us. The only problem we have to face, and we need more time with, is Moses."
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