Antonio Conte has been an avid rotator of his Chelsea team this season and the Italian coach has confirmed he will do it once again on Wednesday for their League Cup quarterfinal.
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Chelsea host Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday and Conte has revealed his plans to give plenty of youngsters a chance against the Cherries.
With European action, a run in the League Cup and Chelsea sitting in third place in the Premier League table, Conte’s rotation has worked fairly well and he believes it is the best way for success across all four competitions his team will play in.
“It’s right to continue to give this opportunity to my players to show me that they deserve to play,” Conte said. “Every competition is serious and our task is to try and win the game, to reach the semifinals. It’s right in this competition to give the opportunity to the players that aren’t playing with regularity. This is very important. It’s very difficult to ask your players to play every game. [N’Golo] Kante has played 10 games in a row. When you do this, you take a great risk with injury.”
Conte confirmed that both Michy Batshuayi and Kenedy will start against Bournemouth, while academy products Dujon Sterling and Callum Hudson-Odoi could be in the squad and 17-year-old Ethan Ampadu may start for the second-straight League Cup game.
When it comes to injuries, Conte revealed that Alvaro Morata is “okay” after his back injury and Charly Musonda is recovering well, while David Luiz remains out with a knee injury.
Responding to questions about media reports that Luiz could be sold to London rivals Arsenal in the January transfer window for over $40 million, Conte had the following to say.
“I don’t read and I solve the problem,” Conte said. “I don’t have some information about this topic. I repeat, I am a person who is very realistic. I like to tell the truth. I think that also I don’t want to annoy you with the same reply. I don’t listen to this. I don’t have anything about this.”
Conte then added that “I like to make the best decision from what I see during the training sessions and if you deserve to play, you play” as well as making a statement about him looking at the mental approach of his players when making decisions on whether or not they should start.
Luiz, 30, was left out of Chelsea’s squad for their win against Manchester United in November and hasn’t played for over a month amid reports of a bust-up with Conte. His knee injury also seems to have been rather convenient as rumors continue to swirl about him leaving Chelsea in January.
Andreas Christensen has impressed in place of Luiz and his form could suggest that Conte is willing to cash in on his Brazilian international who is known to be a big personality in the dressing room at Chelsea following his two spells at the club which yielded the UEFA Champions League, FA Cup, Europa League and Premier League trophies.
Luiz’s sudden fall from grace at Chelsea is even more shocking when you consider his fine form last season in Chelsea’s title-winning campaign. Many eyebrows were raised when Luiz returned to Chelsea from PSG but the Brazilian stepped up to become the central figure in Chelsea’s three-man defense.
Less than 12 months on, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him leave Chelsea in January.
