Conte enjoys all aspects of Chelsea’s win over Huddersfield, except one

Tuesday night saw the return of a great many good things for Chelsea. Not only did the Blues get back to winning ways, but they did so in good style, good spirit, and playing good football all the while. Even Conte’s beard was back, if obscured by several layers of warm clothing in the freezing Huddersfield night! Chelsea were on the front foot from the first minute to just about he last, with the hosts’ only good spell coming at the very end when they grabbed a consolation goal.

It is that final play that Conte picked out as his only negative from the 3-1 win for the Blues, which followed a rather disappointing effort over the weekend against West Ham.

“From the start we showed great personality and great desire to win this game, against a really good team [...] we must be very happy with the performance.

“We have to continue trying to play this type of football, because tonight I think my players enjoyed playing this type of football, dominating the game, creating many chances with great combination play between our strikers. I enjoyed a lot seeing my players play this football.

“I saw a lot of positive things. I also saw one negative thing, conceding the goal at the end of the game. We must improve in this aspect, because keeping a clean sheet is always important for our goalkeeper, for our defenders, for the whole team. This is the only negative aspect on a good night for us.”

As Eden Hazard and Willian joked in their post-match interview, the win puts Chelsea “only” 11 points behind leaders Manchester City, who play later today — title race back on! — but the team’s target shouldn’t be the runaway league leaders. The rest of the top four is as congested as ever, and with two of the five contenders set to miss out on the Champions League places for next season, it is important to remain on a winning path.

“To win in this way is very important because it improves our confidence, especially after a defeat against West Ham. In the last nine games, Chelsea won seven games, drew one game away against Liverpool, and we lost the last game against West Ham.

“We are on a good path in the league, but there is a team in this moment who are very difficult to stop, otherwise we would be fighting for the title with United, Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverpool. It doesn’t mean we don’t have to try to catch them, but we have to hope they have a big, big slip, and for us to win every game in this league.”

-Antonio Conte; source: Chelsea FC

The target, as ever, is to win everything. It’s the only valid answer.