Arsenal 3 Chelsea 0: Antonio Conte insists talk of formation is irrelevant if Blues continue to concede soft goals

FootballSportPremier LeagueChelseaArsenalJames Benge

Antonio Conte insisted that the question of what formation Chelsea play in is irrelevant if their defence continues to struggle as it did in their 3-0 loss to Arsenal.

Chelsea are languishing in eighth place after a second league defeat in succession against a potential top four rival and rarely threatened their hosts after a first half blitz from Alexis Sanchez, Theo Walcott and Mesut Ozil.

Conte withdrew Cesc Fabregas, who looked a shadow of his former self on his return to the Emirates, and brought on Marcos Alonso in defence, switching to a three man central defence with the substitute and Cesar Azpilicueta as wing-backs. But be it 3-5-2 or 4-1-4-1 Chelsea will continue to struggle if they give away two goals every game, their manager warned.

“I had to solve the situation, the most important things,” Conte said. “The situation now is that every game we concede two goals at minimum.

“For this reason three at the back or two or four, I don’t care about it. It’s important to solve the situation. I must find the right solution because every game we’re conceding twice. If there are issues, I don’t care.

“I work a lot to find the right solution.”

Though Conte’s side had battled back from a 2-0 deficit to win 4-2 in the EFL Cup against Leicester in midweek Saturday’s loss made it consecutive league defeats for Chelsea against potential top four rivals, Liverpool having departed Stamford Bridge with the points last Friday.

That leaves Chelsea with a great deal of ground to recover from early pacesetters Manchester City, who are eight points clear of the Blues after their unbeaten start to the season. Indeed Conte was reluctant to answer questions of what the defeat meant for their title hopes and urged his side to show “humility” as they try to understand why they have struggled recently.

“It can happen in one game that you have a bad performance, but I hope to improve the situation,” he said. “This is the second consecutive defeat to a great team, Liverpool and Arsenal.

“We must reflect on this because we have had two defeats in two big games. For this reason we must have the humility to understand that we need to work a lot to improve and change our story.”

ArticleAntonio Conte: Every game we're conceding two goals at leastAntonio ConteChelseaChelsea F.c.Arsenal Arsenal 3 Chelsea 0: Antonio Conte insists talk of formation is irrelevant if Blues continue to concede soft goalsat the EmiratesGalleryPublishedMedium width1Saturday, September 24, 2016 - 21:57OnEnable video endboarddefault