Chelsea manager Antonio Conte believes rival managers including Manchester United’s Jose Mourinho who are whining about the fixtures handed Victor Moses and his Blues team-mates for the Christmas schedule are simply jealous of their success.
Chelsea took maximum points from their six December fixtures to extend their winning run in the League, equalling Arsenal’s 13 matches winning streak but the fact that they have often been given more time to recover than the teams in the chasing pack has sparked anger from some mangers with Mourinho aiming a massive dig at his former club as he opined that they have special privileges as regards festive schedules.
Moses and his Chelsea troops face Tottenham on Wednesday night at White Hart Lane four days after they beat Stoke while title rivals Manchester City, Liverpool and Manchester United and Arsenal have all played two games in three days.
But Antonio Conte, whose team go into the crunch London derby on a run of 13 League victories and could stretch their lead to eight points, brushed off the moans saying: “I didn’t do the fixtures. That’s the simple reply.
“Would I be angry if I was them? No, I think they are angry because of our position, not for the fixtures. It’s normal. This also happens in Italy. It’s always because you stay up at the top.
“During a season different situations can happen when you can have an advantage, but for sure not this one.
“It is important to only think about ourselves, not look at other teams. At the start of the season no-one could imagine this.” Conte said as quoted on the Express.
The Italian manager and his Chelsea side can establish a new top-flight record if they make it 14 wins in a row tonight, beating the record set by Arsenal in 2002.