FA Cup: Chelsea boss Antonio Conte 'must improve' squad next season
Last updated on .From the section Chelsea
Chelsea must "improve the numbers and quality" in their squad over the summer, said manager Antonio Conte after the FA Cup final loss to Arsenal.
The Blues were crowned Premier League champions earlier this month in Conte's first season at Stamford Bridge.
However, they missed out on the double after a 2-1 defeat by the Gunners at Wembley on Saturday.
"This season we did something great with the players," said Conte. "We must be cold and analyse the situation."
Chelsea became the first English side to record 30 top-flight victories in a 38-game season and finished seven points clear of runners-up Tottenham.
They were favourites to win the FA Cup for an eighth time but they were second best on the day to Arsene Wenger's Arsenal, who lifted the trophy for a record 13th time after finishing fifth in the league.
"The most important thing is to give a correct evaluation of our season," said Italian Conte.
"It's very important to understand that this season for us was incredible. Every single player put so much work in.
"For next season we must pay great attention and understand that we have to improve the numbers and the quality in the squad."
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Alexis Sanchez put Arsenal ahead after only five minutes at Wembley on Saturday and Chelsea were reduced to 10 men in the second half following Victor Moses' second yellow card.
And although Diego Costa equalised to give the Blues hope, Aaron Ramsey headed in the winner three minutes later.
After the game, Conte refuted claims his players struggled to raise themselves for the final having already secured the league title.
"We won the league and it was right to celebrate and enjoy this win," he added.
"My players put all of themselves into the game, maybe our start wasn't good and the impact and approach wasn't good and Arsenal pushed a lot.
"We paid for this start."
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Will be interesting to see how he gets on in CL and if they can repeat league success at same time
V glad he's joined the prem - i'm loving the battles between so many world class managers with a variety of styles...look forward to next year's season already!
I think the referees have been poor tis season. Its way past time they were improved.
Do you think not playing in Europe had anything to do with it ??
Expectations were low but Conte did a great job. It’s going to be an interesting second season for him, especially with players like Hazard.
Seems difficult to get sensible Comments on here nowadays How many are School age and how many are just Thick
School age, about 65%
Just thick, the other 87%
The Chelsea 'no show' (last seen at Old Trafford) is a worry and suggests that this side miight not have the stamina for the twenty additional games that CL will require.
We played a fine Spurs side off the park at Wembley so lack of effort gave the scratch side the Cup.
Chelsea only played 47 games (9 cup fixtures) this season. For comparison, Man Utd played 64 (26 cup fixtures).
That's an incredible difference. Chelsea played one game a week all year while City/Liverpool/Spurs played two.
These clubs don't really care about the youth systems and even less about how well England..
Sad but true.