Antonio Conte gives emotional response to ‘very poor’ Chelsea performance against Watford

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  • Chelsea boss Antonio Conte sounded like a man under pressure after defeat to Watford
  • The Blues were beaten 4-1 by the Hornets in a shock result in the Premier League
  • Reports before the game suggested Conte’s job could be on the line if they lose
  • READ MORE: Next Chelsea manager – Enrique 2/1, Ancelotti 3/1 and more odds

Chelsea manager Antonio Conte gave an emotional response to his side’s 4-1 defeat to Watford this evening as he sounded like a man under pressure.

The Italian tactician did not hold back in his post-match press conference, slamming his side’s display as ‘very poor’ and ‘very bad’ and also hinting at criticism of the quality of his squad overall.

Chelsea got off to a nightmare start when midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko was sent off after just 29 minutes, but they couldn’t even hold on for much more than two minutes when Eden Hazard equalised late on.

Instead, the Premier League champions completely collapsed as Watford hit three in the closing stages to condemn them to a second league defeat in a row.

Conte was clearly not happy after the game and offered little in the way of meaningful, measured analysis, instead opting to slam his own selection choices, though it’s not clear how many alternatives he really had.

‘Our performance was very bad. We didn’t start in the right way. A bad performance,’ Conte is quoted in the Daily Mirror.

‘Our start was very poor. I made mistakes with the starting 11. My choices were very poor.

‘I tried to warn everyone about the difficulty of our path in the league and Champions League.’

Chelsea have just two wins in their last ten games in all competitions and have now lost three out of their last four games.

A report from the Daily Express before the game tonight suggested defeat to Watford could see Conte sacked by Roman Abramovich.

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