Chelsea boss Antonio Conte ‘worried by the lack of leaders’ at the club following their 3-0 drubbing at the hands of Roma
CHELSEA boss Antonio Conte has admitted he is worried by the lack of leaders at the club following this week's 3-0 drubbing by Roma.
According to the Times, the Italian chief is concerned no one at the Blues has the ability to run the team on the pitch after their humbling in Rome.
In recent years, Chelsea have lost "captain, leader, legend" John Terry, as well as senior figures including Diego Costa and Branislav Ivanovic.
While those stars have been replaced by players of genuine quality - such as Alvaro Morata and Tiemoue Bakayoko - most are young and relatively inexperienced.
The oldest two players at the club are back-up keepers Willy Caballero and Eduardo - both of whom fail to make the starting XI with any regularity.
Centre-back pairing Gary Cahill and David Luiz are the next eldest - at 31 and 30 respectively - but both lack experience in leading teams on the field.
Conte had been vocal during the summer months regarding his lack of funds to do any real business in the summer.
The Blues chief did manage to bring in a few big names, but has recently suggested his side lacks the depth of his title rivals, such as Manchester City.
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During the summer, Conte hit out at the club - while praising rivals Tottenham - over reinforcements.
The Italian ranted: “I think Spurs are doing a great job, Mauricio Pochettino is doing a great job.
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“He has built a great base and foundation for his club. We must do the same, we don’t have these bases.
"I have great respect for Tottenham. They are challenging for the title. I want to help my club build the same solid foundation. We don’t have this.
“We need time to work, to improve. I thought this season would be difficult, we lost a lot of strong players that built a strong base.
“John Terry, John Obi Mikel, Branislav Ivanovic — and now we need to find the right way to build. We must have patience to build for the future.
“Last season we started to build this foundation and we won, so it means we built something.
“But now it’s not enough, we have to improve, to extend this base, work together with new players."