Antonio Conte is the man who got Chelsea into this mess, he should be allowed to get them out of it
Sacking the Italian now makes no sense, says SunSport's Chelsea expert Andrew Dillon. Instead he has earned the right to try to turn things round in time for Champions League clash with Barcelona
IT MAKES no sense to sack Antonio Conte now or in the immediate future.
Chelsea, and sense, are not usually two words ever seen in the same sentence of course.
But there are mitigating factors which point to a reason why Conte should not become the latest manager to pass through the Stamford Bridge death zone.
Chelsea were terrible against Watford in the first half.
Even with ten men for the half hour before Tiemoue Bakayoko was sent off. They were ragged, nervous, disjointed.
But when striker Olivier Giroud came on in the second half there was a sudden spring to them.
This is because Eden Hazard was relieved of centre forward duties and allowed to drop back, pick up the ball and run, run, run at defenders. That’s his forte.
Keeper Thibaut Courtois was also out at half time doing drills on the pitch at Vicarage Road, while his team-mates took a break.
FEELING BLUE Antonio Conte gives Chelsea men THREE days off after Watford hammering
To me, that’s a sign of a keeper still on his way back from injury and he will steadily improve his reflexes.
Marcos Alonso, Andreas Christensen, Alavaro Morata all missed the game through injury. That’s the spine of a team ripped out.
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Quite often none of this is ever taken into consideration by an owner when sacking his manager but why get rid now? Should Chelsea drop way out of the top four then maybe.
Let him try to turn it around and see it through against Barcelona in the Champions League too.
Only when the season is a write off is it time to pull the trigger.
Right now, it needs the man who got Chelsea into this little mess to get them out of it.