Conte demands better finishing from everyone, not just the strikers
For only the third time in his reign, Antonio Conte saw his Chelsea side fail to score at Stamford Bridge.
But this was the one that got away, and it could come back to haunt them.
Despite dominating possession, the Blues allowed Arsenal to escape with a goalless draw in the first leg of their League Cup semi-final yesterday morning (Singapore time).
That it is becoming increasingly common to see Chelsea's attackers squander goalscoring chances, and worse still, fail to even take up threatening positions in the Arsenal box, should worry the manager.
But Conte refused to push the blame to his strikers, although he admitted that the team's finishing as a whole has to improve.
He said in his post-match press conference: "You must be worried if you don't create, and it can become difficult to score.
"But I think this team, every game we create chances to score. This season, maybe we are a bit unlucky.
"We are not so good to take these chances.
"But my speech is not for the strikers.
"For example, today, (defender Andreas) Christensen had two chances to score, two fantastic opportunities.
"We have to improve with all the players, not just the strikers or the midfielders.
"When you have the chance, you have to score because when you play a semi-final, it is very important to exploit every chance you have."
While Arsenal were well below their best once again, in contrast to their surrender to Nottingham Forest last week, Gunners manager Arsene Wenger will be encouraged that they showed enough spirit to keep Chelsea at bay.
"I felt there was great togetherness. I am pleased with the spirit and determination," Wenger was quoted as saying in AFP.
"You want first to be solid, but ideally, you want to score as well."
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