I Always Accept A Referee’s Mistake – Conte

Antonio Conte has claimed that it is “stupid” for coaches to try to create a siege mentality at top clubs, insisting that his Chelsea players do not need the “other stimulation” of believing the world is against them in order to win.

Conte also denied that his complaints are intended to motivate his players.

“No, we are working under this aspect to create a strong mentality,” Conte said. “Not because you have to feel under attack [to win]. This is a stupid thing. Do I have to transfer to my players, ‘Oh, we are under attack from the referees, from the journalists and the other teams’? This is not the right way.

“We are in a great team. I work with great players. Great players working in a great team must have a strong, winning mentality. They don’t need to have other stimulation, or other situations to push themselves to create this mentality.

“You have to create this mentality because every player playing for a great team must have a strong, winning mentality.”

“I think, during the game, the player can be tired, but Pedro’s reaction was to stand up quickly,” Conte added. “I think the player understood, at that moment, the mistake [he had made] and wanted to stand up and admit it was a mistake.

“But sometimes we can make mistakes. The most important thing is to try and recognise the mistake and try and avoid repeating it next time.”

He also reiterated that the procedure of consulting the VAR for penalty incidents must be improved.

“Now we are talking about diving, but why aren’t we talking about the big mistake?” he asked. “We tried always to move the attention on to the mistake of the player, and not the big mistake of the referee — not the one on the pitch, but the referee in front of the video.

“I always accept a referee’s mistake, and I don’t want to speak about the mistake. But if we decide to use the VAR, then you have to use it in the right way. If there is a penalty, you wait a moment, you see it and you don’t book the player.