Former Liverpool defender and Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher believes that Chelsea need to stay calm ahead of the trip to face Tottenham.
The Blues got off to exactly the kind of start they would not hope for by losing to Burnley at Stamford Bridge in their opening game of the season.
Antonio Conte has cut a frustrated figure over the summer due to lack of signings and selling off some players without his consent. The Italian who delivered league success for Chelsea in his first season is now one of the bookies’ favourites to receive the sack this season.
Fans have already started drawing comparisons of the start of the season with the 2015/2016 season where Chelsea had a miserable title defence and eventually sacked then manager Jose Mourinho before finishing a lowly 10th in the league.
With a massive game to come against Spurs this weekend, Carragher believes that Chelsea needs to stay calm for this one.
“Chelsea need to do the exact opposite of panicking,” Carragher said on Monday Night Football.
“A couple of seasons ago when they drew with Swansea on the opening day and they had the incident with the club doctor, all of sudden it felt like Chelsea were under pressure. I felt like people were fanning the flames. The story was getting bigger and bigger until Jose Mourinho eventually lost his job.
“They’ve lost one game at home – they should be thinking now ‘relax’.
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“They’ve got two games between now and the transfer window shutting. Antonio Conte needs to get two players in – they need strengthening, especially in the wing-back positions.
“They need to stop this tidal wave of negativity. The way Conte is speaking to the press you know something isn’t right.
“That’s got to stop. They’ve got to remember it’s only one defeat and they’ve got to get their heads back on. As Conte has said, they don’t want another Jose season.”
Carragher believes that Chelsea will approach this game in a more cautious manner as they would not want to face the prospect of two straight defeats which would make it their worst start to the league in 44 years.
“They’ll be a lot of pressure on Chelsea going into the game,” The former Liverpool defender said.
“Chelsea have got to go there with a mindset of ‘don’t get beat – don’t lose two on the bounce’.”
A dilapidated Chelsea struck with suspensions and injuries face an exciting, young Tottenham side on Sunday at Spurs’ home ground for this season-Wembley.
