Chelsea latest news: Thibaut Courtois insists every Chelsea player are fighting for Antonio Conte’s job
Belgian is adamant the full Blues squad is 100 per cent behind their coach and says the ex-Juventus man will not suffer the same fate as Jose Mourinho in 2015
CHELSEA goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois insists he and his team-mates will fight to the end to ensure Antonio Conte does not suffer the same fate as Jose Mourinho in 2015.
The Blues were heading for their third defeat of the season when they fell 2-1 down to Watford at Stamford Bridge.
But the West London side showed their battling qualities to come back and win 4-2 to help relieve the pressure on their Italian chief.
Rumours of player unhappiness over his training methods dominated the pre-match build-up – similar speculation Mourinho faced two years ago in his final days in charge of Chelsea.
However, speaking to the Standard, Courtois says the whole squad are determined to show they can their boss.
He said: “We are ready to fight for the coach. I remember what happened two years ago under Jose Mourinho and things started to be said, there were stories about the dressing room without knowing what was happening.
“We are happy to show that we are ready to fight. We all know what would have happened [more debate over Conte’s future] if we had lost against Watford.
“There was a moment when we were 2-1 down, we were having difficulties and Watford could have made it 4-1. It was very important to come back to win.
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“In 2015 [under Mourinho] we wanted to fight as well but the game didn’t turn out well for us, there was too much bad luck. Sometimes different things happened.
“But we are showing we want to fight again now, firstly as a group of players. We want to win games.
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“We don’t want to lose and say we don’t care anymore. We want to fight for ourselves, too. It is important for us.
“Some of us remember what happened two years ago and we don’t want the same thing to happen.”
And on the rumours of discontent over Conte’s training sessions, Courtois quickly dismissed those claims.
He added: “Every manager has his own routine. With Antonio we do a lot of tactical sessions and drills. We are fine with it.
“Last season we were champions with his way and we trained much more than this season, so I don’t know why somebody would complain. It’s not as if we don’t like to train.”
