Conte warns Terry faces fight for place - Capital Sports
Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

English Premiership

Conte warns Terry faces fight for place

Chelsea’s John Terry (R) struggled against West Ham in the EFL Cup fourth round having been out of action for six weeks with an ankle injury © AFP/File / Ian Kington

SOUTHAMPTON, United Kingdom, Oct 29 – Antonio Conte has hinted Chelsea captain John Terry could be sent back to the bench for Sunday’s Premier League trip to Southampton.

Terry’s return to action in Chelsea’s midweek League Cup defeat at West Ham didn’t go according to plan as the centre-back struggled in his first appearance following six weeks on the sidelines with an ankle injury.

After three successive league wins without conceding a goal, Chelsea lost 2-1 to the Hammers and Terry’s error-strewn performance in Conte’s favoured three-man defence is unlikely to have persuaded the Italian to keep him in the starting line-up this weekend.

The back three system is alien to Terry, who thrived in a four-man defence for much of his career, and the 35-year-old was beaten in the air by Cheikhou Kouyate for West Ham’s first goal.

Conte eventually switched Terry from the central position to the left of the defence at half-time.

That leaves Terry as a potential casualty if the Blues boss recalls Marcos Alonso and Victor Moses to the wing-back roles and restores Cesar Azpilicueta to central defence.

“I don’t like to talk about individual players. We win together and we lose together in every circumstance,” Conte said.

“It’s logical that John came back from injury and it’s not easy to restart and to find quickly the right shape.

“John is an important player for us, if he plays, if he doesn’t play, for the changing room, for his team-mates, for the club.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

“I repeat: in this case always it’s important the team and not to think or to speak about an individual player.

“I have always to take the best decision for the team, never for an individual player.”

– Tinkering –

Conte made seven changes against West Ham, stalling the momentum from last Sunday’s 4-0 demolition of Manchester United.

Chelsea coach Antonio Conte made seven changes for the EFL Cup fourth round match against West Ham, stalling the momentum from last Sunday’s 4-0 demolition of Manchester United © AFP/File / Ian Kington

He wants a response against Southampton and has no intention of tinkering with the tactical formation that brought him success with Juventus and Italy.

“We wanted to win and to continue in the cup. It didn’t happen,” Conte said.

“It’s a pity, but on Sunday we have another tough game and it’s important our head now stays concentrated for this game.

“I think it’s the right way for the players. It’s a good fit for the team, this system.

“For sure we must continue to work in the offensive situations and also in defensive situation.

“It’s not easy, it’s completely different when you defend with four and when you defend with three defenders.”

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

Chelsea enter this weekend’s fixtures in fourth place, one point behind table-toppers Manchester City, who lead Arsenal and Liverpool on goal difference.

But Conte refuses to talk up his team’s title chances at this stage.

“We shouldn’t look at the table,” he added. “It’s important to improve game by game, to continue to trust in the work. These are the most important things now, not the table.

“In this league, there is great balance and in every game, anything can happen. You can win, but you can lose.”

Meanwhile, Southampton manager Claude Puel says he will carry on rotating his squad against Chelsea to keep them fresh following their midweek League Cup win over Sunderland.

Southampton’s midfielder Sofiane Boufal (C) celebrates after scoring the opening goal of the EFL Cup fourth round match against Sunderland on October 26, 2016 © AFP / Glyn Kirk

Puel has been successfully tweaking his team as he juggles Southampton’s Premier League, Europa League and League Cup commitments.

And despite a series of defensive injuries, Saints are on an impressive run of one defeat in 10 matches in all competitions.

“I think it was important at the beginning to prepare all the players,” Puel said.

“We can see it is a good thing now, because we can keep good results.

“I hope we can recover some players for the future, for all the games, but of course to turn and to change the team often is important.”

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

Advertisement

More on Capital Sports

Football

NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 27 – DStv and GOtv subscribers are in for a treat of the world’s best football this week as the 2020-21...

Football

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 25 – There is light at the end of the tunnel. After failed promises over the last three years since its...

Football

NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 6 – Gentrix Shikangwa scored with two minutes left as Vihiga Queens sailed to the final of the CECAFA regional qualifiers...

NFL

NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 13 – Kenya’s history making Daniel Adongo, the first Kenyan to play in America’s National Football League (NFL), is now living...

© 2024 Capital Digital Media. Capital Group Limited. All Rights Reserved