Conte admits losing tactical scrap with Jose

Antonio Conte accepted the blame for Chelsea’s potentially damaging defeat at Manchester United yesterday, a loss which saw the Italian apparently out-coached by his counterpart Jose Mourinho.

In an absorbing encounter, Mourinho’s personnel and tactical choices proved key and Conte, who saw his team’s lead at the top of the table cut to four points, admitted that he was to blame for Chelsea’s failure to react.

“We didn’t play a good game and United deserved to win the game,” said Conte. “They showed more desire, more ambition, more motivation.

“It is very simple but in this case the fault is of the coach. It means the coach was not able to transfer the right concentration, desire, ambition to win this game.”

Having led by 13 points in the middle of last month, Chelsea now only hold a four-point advantage over a Tottenham team whom they face in the FA Cup semi-final on Saturday.

However, Conte is adamant that his team will cope with the mounting pressure, especially given the strides they have made since he inherited a team that had under-performed badly under Mourinho last season.

“The pressure is normal,” said Conte. “I prefer to play for the title under pressure than don’t fight for the title and stay calm with your friends and to joke every moment.

“The pressure is normal, you are lucky to have that pressure. Last season, for example, Chelsea didn’t have the pressure; in 10th place you play calm, you are happy.

“We must understand this, that something really important is happening this season because we are doing a great job and a miracle if you consider last season and the problems we had this season.

“For this reason we must have great enthusiasm to play these last six games with enthusiasm, with patience and the will to fight and win.

“Then if you’re able to win then you must be proud for this together, otherwise you must clap another team. But that’s football.” Meanwhile, Mourinho, who won thanks to goals from Marcus Rashford and Ander Herrera has defended his handling of the young England forward after he was preferred to Zlatan Ibrahimovic and turned in a masterful display.

“Rashford is the third or fourth player with most minutes on the pitch,” said Mourinho. “When everybody was trying to guess that young players would have difficulties to play with me, he is third or fourth.

“He’s always on the pitch, plays every game, on the right, on the left in one striker in two strikers.

“For his education this is a phenomenal season. For his tactical education, for his tactical culture this season is a phenomenal season for him with an amazing range of different experiences.

“Is he not scoring enough goals? No. Even today the first opportunity he had, he didn’t score, and looked like he was not very confident. But the kid played very well and, again, it was a great experience for him to play against a team as good as Chelsea.”