Antonio Conte questions Chelsea stars' attitude following disappointing defeat to Arsenal

Antonio Conte has admitted that Chelsea have much work to do after the Blues suffered a disappointing 3-0 defeat to Arsenal only a week after a home setback against Liverpool. The Italian boss refused to single out any player for criticism, but was forced to switch to a 3-5-2 formation after half-time as the Gunners dominated thanks to goals from Alexis Sanchez, Theo Walcott and Mesut Ozil.

The Chilean international capitalised on an error from Gary Cahill to put Arsenal ahead early on and Walcott doubled the lead only three minutes later following a low cross from Hector Bellerin. Chelsea failed to react and fell further behind before half-time after Mesut Ozil scored the third following a good counter-attack.

"We started this game in a bad way, and from the first minute," Conte admitted after questioning the attitude of his players. "This is very strange because Arsenal against Chelsea is a massive game and when we play this type of game against a very good team like Arsenal, you must stay concentrated from the first minute and this today did not happen.

"I was a footballer and it happens that in one game you don't have a good performance for many reasons, but I hope to improve this situation. We've had defeat in two big games. For this reason we must be humble and understand the moment and that we need to work a lot to improve and change our story."

The Italian boss decided to switch to three at the back by bringing on Marcos Alonso for Cesc Fabregas in the 55<sup>th minute of the game. Conte failed to confirm whether he will stick with this formation in the coming games, but said that one way or another Chelsea need to improve.

"I have to solve the situation because every game we concede two goals minimum," he said. "Whether it is two back, three back or four back, I must find the right solution for this team and I work a lot to do this."

Yet the former Juventus manager insisted that it is not time to single out any player, but rather to share the blame and work together in order to avoid the same mistakes happening again.

"I said this before we have two defeats and this message is good for the present and for the future. We must work a lot to improve and change the situation because now we are only a great team on paper, not on the pitch. The pitch is the truth, it is the most important thing for us, not the words and not the paper. We must change this because last season was a bad season. There are many difficulties but if we understand this, we are in a great position to recover and change the situation."