- Title: Chelsea's Conte plays down title hopes
- Date: 30th December 2016
- Summary: STOKE D'ABERNON, NEAR LONDON, ENGLAND, UK (DECEMBER 30, 2016) (REUTERS) CHELSEA MANAGER ANTONIO CONTE ARRIVES FOR NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHELSEA MANAGER ANTONIO CONTE, ASKED ABOUT CHELSEA'S PREMIER LEAGUE LEAD, SAYS: "We played only 18 games and there are 20 games to finish this season. At the start of the season I think no one coach, no one person, no one journalist, trusts this team to fight for the title in this league in this season because we come from a bad season. Our market wasn't good for someone but now I am pleased that the opinion is changing. I am a bit worried that when the opinion changes quickly you must be the attention, you must be attention. We have only six points more than the second teams." NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHELSEA MANAGER ANTONIO CONTE, ASKED ABOUT CHELSEA'S RECORD RUN OF 12 WINS IN A ROW, SAYS: "Twelve wins in a row is a great achievement but it is not enough to win the league at this point of the season. And I hope to keep this run also tomorrow because tomorrow we will have a tough game against Stoke City and we must pay great attention if we want to continue in this way." NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHELSEA MANAGER ANTONIO CONTE, ASKED ABOUT OTHER CLUBS SUCH AS REAL MADRID LOOKING TO SIGN GOALKEEPER THIBAUT CURTOIS, SAYS: "I think it is not important to clarify the situation but Thibaut is for me one of the best, if not the best, goalkeepers in the world. He has worked very well, he is a fantastic goalkeeper, he stays with us and this is the most important thing - the other situation for me is only speculation." NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHELSEA MANAGER ANTONIO CONTE, ASKED ABOUT NEW PLAYERS IN THE JANUARY TRANSFER WINDOW, SAYS: "Generally it is always very difficult to buy because I think every team thinks to keep the best players and not to sell. But with the club we are thinking of the best way to face the rest of the season, for sure we are seeing our situation, our squad." NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHELSEA MANAGER ANTONIO CONTE, ASKED ABOUT JOHN TERRY'S CONDITION, SAYS: "John trained this week with us, now he is finding the best shape, the right shape." END OF NEWS CONFERENCE
- Embargoed: 14th January 2017 15:33
- Keywords: Chelsea Antonio Conte Stoke
- Location: STOKE D'ABERNON, NEAR LONDON, ENGLAND, UK
- City: STOKE D'ABERNON, NEAR LONDON, ENGLAND, UK
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Soccer,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA0015F2R5TR
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Antonio Conte brushed aside the praise being heaped upon him and his high-flying Chelsea team on Friday (December 30), adamant that he would not let the plaudits distract them in their surge towards the Premier League title.
Earlier, Arsene Wenger, manager of one of Chelsea's main pursuers Arsenal, had suggested the Blues' six-point lead meant that the title was already "theirs to lose".
Yet Conte, while conceding that Chelsea's 12 successive league wins represented "a great achievement", played down any suggestion of winning the title.
"We played only 18 games and there are 20 games to finish this season," the Italian said.
"At the start of the season I think no one coach, no one person, no one journalist, trusts this team to fight for the title in this league in this season because we come from a bad season," he said, reminding everyone that Chelsea are only six point ahead of second-placed Liverpool.
"Twelve wins in a row is a great achievement but it's not enough to win the League at this point of the season," he told reporters at the club's training ground.
Conte reiterated that Chelsea, who face Stoke City on Saturday (December 31), had money to spend in the transfer window but would not admit to a shopping-list, saying that clubs tended to hold on to their best players.
The manager batted aside talk of goalkeeper Thibaut Curtois being sought by Real Madrid saying the Belgian was a valued member of Chelsea's squad and "one of the best goalkeepers in the world." - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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