We Made A Lot Of Mistakes Against Bournemouth – Conte

Antonio Conte has said Chelsea are overachieving this season and insisted that a top-four finish in the Premier League would be a “great success” after Wednesday’s shock 3-0 defeat against Bournemouth.

“Tough night, but if you remember very well, I predicted this tough night yesterday during the press conference,” he said. “If you remember, I said it would be very, very tough for a lot of reasons. It happened, but now we have to move on and see the next game.

“Now it would be very simple to find a lot of excuses, a lot of alibis. This is not the right way, also because I don’t want to. For sure we made a lot of mistakes together. When we win, we win together. When we lose, we lose together.

“I think the players tried to do their best, honestly. The commitment of the players was great. But, despite this, we lost. It was a bad defeat. But football is not simple. You have to prepare, to study, and then to try and prepare for every situation, every game, every season.

“Now the most important thing is to understand we have to fight. This season will be very tough. We must be ready to struggle this season for everything.

“We are doing everything, we are doing 120 percent. I’m exploiting this squad at the maximum level. If someone doesn’t agree about this, I’m here. I have to accept every situation. I’m very relaxed about [the pressure]. I know that I’m doing a great job, a great work, me and the staff and the players.”

Asked if he thinks Chelsea are overachieving this season, Conte replied: “Yes, I think we are doing more [than expected].”