Conte blames himself for Old Trafford defeat

Chelsea boss Antonio Conte has refused to blame any of his players for today’s loss to Manchester United, and has instead blamed himself for failing to motivate the team.

United won 2-0 courtesy of goals by Marcus Rashford and Andre Herrera as Mourinho’s tactics seemed to tick in all parts of the pitch on the day.

Player of the Year nominee Eden Hazard was man marked out of the game along with Pedro, while current top performer N’Golo Kante also struggled to outplay Paul Pogba for control of the centre. But according to Conte, the main reason for the negative result was the lack of passion.

“They deserved to win, because they showed more desire than us, more motivation.” He said after the game. “In this case, the fault is the coach. It is mine. In this case, I wasn’t able to do the right motivation.”

The defeat reduced the Blues’ lead at the top of the Premier League table to four points, with high-flying Tottenham hot on their heels. Conte thinks his players now must try and play like Spurs to win the title.

“To play this type of game from now and until the end we must have great enthusiasm, great motivation to try to reach the target.

“This for us is a fantastic target. I have concern because we have to work together to find quickly the right ambition to win this title – If someone thinks it’s normal for Chelsea to win the title, we started as underdogs after 10^th place last season.

“Tottenham is in good form and playing with enthusiasm, we must find the same.”