Antonio Conte has been named Barclays
Premier League Manager of the Month for
December, becoming the first man to win the
prize three times in succession.
The Italian, who beat off competition from
Tottenham’s Mauricio Pochettino and Liverpool’s
Jurgen Klopp, has been rewarded for the team’s fine
form throughout the month, when we took maximum
points from our six matches.
Just like in October and November, when Conte also
won the award, the Blues were able to produce
exciting attacking football while also remaining solid
from a defensive perspective.
We conceded just three goals in December, with two
of those coming in our final game of the month, the
4-2 win against Stoke City. We scored 13, including
three away at Manchester City.
Conte was delighted to take the prize once again,
particularly given the number of fixtures over the
course of what is always a busy month.
‘I’m very proud,’ he tells the official Chelsea website.
‘It’s a great honour for me but I want to say thanks
to all of my players, my staff (pictured below) and
the club because we won the award together. Now
it’s important to continue to work very well together.
‘I enjoyed my first Christmas period a lot. This type
of atmosphere only happens in England and it was
fantastic. I hope to experience it again many times in
the future.
‘When you win you usually see a lot of positive things
and every game was different. We won six matches
and to do that, especially in December, is very
difficult.
‘If I had to pick out one game I would choose West
Brom, because it was very tough and we scored with
15 minutes remaining. My players showed me great
character and a strong will to win right until the end
that day, which I always like to see.’
Conte’s focus now switches to ensuring we
strengthen our position at the top of the table
tomorrow when we travel to Leicester.
‘It’s a big game,’ he says. ‘We started January with a
loss against Tottenham, which was a pity because I
think the game was well balanced, but now we have
a tough game at Leicester and it’s important to
restart a good run in the Premier League, we must
play with great concentration.’
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