There are few managers in Europe under more pressure than Antonio Conte, but Gianfranco Zola is not at all concerned for his friend’s welfare.

Conte’s future at Chelsea has been in doubt since last summer, yet the scrutiny over his position has increased markedly after defeats by Bournemouth and Watford.

The Italian has proved to be one of the most passionate coaches the Premier League has seen but even he looked drained on the sidelines as Watford ran amok last week.

Another loss, against West Brom at home tonight, will lead to more questions over whether Conte is capable of seeing February out, let alone the 16 months left on his contract.

Zola has known Conte since playing against him in Italy during the 1990s and believes many observers are guilty of underestimating his ability to handle the hardship.

He told Standard Sport: “People who ask if he is affected by all of this, they don’t know Antonio very well.

“I have known Antonio for years and in his career he has had tough moments, injuries, breakdowns and he has always came back fighting. Antonio doesn’t worry me.

“It is difficult for every manager, we live for results. When things don’t go well we suffer. But Antonio is a manager who has been through periods like this and come out of it very well. I’m sure he can cope.

“Antonio has shown during his spell in England that he deserves people to be patient with him. He deserves it for what he has done for this team.”

Zola knows from his vast experience as a player and a coach what it is like when there is so much talk about a manager potentially being sacked.

When he was starring on the pitch for Chelsea between 1996-03, he saw popular figures Ruud Gullit and Gianluca Vialli fired the season after winning a trophy.

He can sympathise with what the current squad are dealing with as they try to get results in this negative environment.

Zola, who will be playing with his former 1998 Chelsea team-mates at Stamford Bridge against an Inter Milan XI on May 18, added: “As a footballer, you can’t allow this to take away from your job.

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“Your focus has to be there all the time. It is much more difficult these days because in my era the talk used to come from two sources, now the stories come from everywhere.

“When there was talk (about Gullit and Vialli), we attempted to face the problems and just forget the noise when we got out onto the pitch. The current players will be doing the same. I saw them train on Friday morning and it didn’t look like there was anything wrong.

“When you start running everything is forgotten. As the adrenaline gets going and you enjoy playing football, you forget about the rest.

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“The pitch is where you want to be at times like this. I understand the concern surrounding Antonio but he is not the main problem.”

Given Chelsea have gone from winning the title last season to currently sitting outside of the top four, what is the reason for their decline? “Competition has grown and Chelsea are not as strong,” Zola said. “They are not playing as well or scoring as many goals as they’re used to.

“They have had some injury problems recently - they miss Alvaro Morata a lot and Olivier Giroud has only just arrived. But Chelsea are still playing for the FA Cup, Champions League and they’re not far away from the top four in the Premier League. It can still end in a good way.”

However, Zola believes Conte has got one thing wrong by playing Eden Hazard as a ‘false nine’. Morata’s ongoing back problems and Giroud’s lack of match fitness, having played very little for Arsenal before his £18million switch last month, have not helped.

Zola identifies with Hazard as a player and feels his talent is being undermined when leading the line. It is why he hopes Giroud or Morata will play up front at Stamford Bridge tonight.

He said: “When Hazard plays deeper, it allows him to come off the pressure and and run at players. It’s perfect for him.

“He is very similar to what I was as a player. If I had to be the main striker and stay around the box, it would limit my possibilities, my strength. While if I had more space to go around and look for the ball, my game was much better.

“I’m sure having a main striker will help Hazard’s game. We saw in the last two games that Chelsea were not as good in the last 20 metres.”



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