Antonio Conte jokingly insisted he is “capable of murdering anyone” after taking out his anger on one of his assistant coaches during Chelsea’s victory over Arsenal.
Videos taken from behind the dugout at Stamford Bridge showed Conte hauling Angelo Alessio down the touchline by his coat after a breakdown in their set-piece marking.
The Blues were comfortable 3-1 winners on Saturday, all but ending Arsenal’s Premier League title hopes, but Conte admitted Alessio was often the victim of his pursuit of perfection.
Conte told Sky Sport Italia: “When I see something that isn’t going right, I am capable of murdering anyone!
“I was angry because [N’Golo] Kante was supposed to track back in place of [Victor] Moses, who had gone into the box to mark the sixth Arsenal man on the corner.
“He didn’t do that and I took it out on Alessio. He’s been my right-hand man and thus, unfortunately, my victim for many years.”
— The CFC Fans Forum (@TheCFCFansForum) February 4, 2017
Conte believes he has been able to turn Chelsea from a mid-table side under Jose Mourinho and Guus Hiddink last season into champions-elect thanks to an unwavering belief in his own ideas.
“I have blind faith in what I do,” he added. “We had won the first three games, but I didn’t like the performances. It was a delicate time, but not dramatic.
“Looking at last season, when Chelsea had practically the same players, you cannot immediately transform from ugly ducking into a swan. At the end of the day, we found our balance.
“The blind faith in my ideas helped. I made some strong choices.”
The Italian is not, however, prepared to claim that the Blues have the title in the bag having built up a nine-point lead over second-placed Tottenham.
“There is no one particular team that worries me more,” Conte said. “The experience of being a player really helps. I won the Champions League, but I also lost other finals and that made me more determined to win.
“You can’t talk about the title yet, as anything could still happen. Just look at us: Chelsea were struggling at the start and turned the whole season around. We’ve got to stay calm.
“[On Sunday] Manchester City beat Swansea with two minutes to go and I would’ve preferred that game end in a draw.”
Join GhanaStar.com to receive daily email alerts of breaking news in Ghana. GhanaStar.com is your source for all Ghana News. Get the latest Ghana news, breaking news, sports, politics, entertainment and more about Ghana, Africa and beyond.