I’m not stupid’ – Conte responds to ‘crime against football’ jibe

Antonio Conte responded to the claim Chelsea committed “a crime against football” with their display against Manchester City by stating that an attacking approach would have been stupid.

Chelsea did not register a single shot on target across 90 minutes of the 1-0 defeat at the Etihad Stadium, with Eden Hazard, Pedro and Willian barely involved as City controlled proceedings throughout.

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Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp was highly critical of what he branded “anti-football” from the Blues, but Conte did not want to be overly ambitious and suffer defeat like Arsenal, who lost 3-0 to City twice over the past eight days.

“I think you have to accept every criticism but I am not so stupid to play against Manchester City open and to lose 3-0 or 4-0,” the Chelsea boss said in his post-match news conference.

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“If I remember well, two days ago, Arsenal played twice against them and then you criticised [Arsene] Wenger a lot because they conceded three goals in only 30 minutes.

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“The pundit has to use the head to understand when you speak about tactics because I think you must have knowledge to speak about tactics and not only to speak in a stupid way.”