Chelsea's Defeat to Liverpool Shows We're Far from Seeing an Antonio Conte Team

STAMFORD BRIDGE, London — Antonio Conte wasn’t panicking on Friday. As he digested his first defeat as Chelsea boss, he wasn’t sat in front of the media looking for excuses and singling out his players on the back of a sobering night against Liverpool.

Conte was much different. Frustrated, yes, but he was calm and considered in his response to the questions being put to him in the confines of Chelsea’s media room. Rather than get carried away, he was asking for a sense of perspective.

Without saying it, he acknowledged Chelsea lost to a better Liverpool team. This was Jurgen Klopp’s Reds a year on from when he first took charge; his methods being instilled on the training ground are paying off, and it showed at Stamford Bridge.

This was a magnificent performance from what is shaping into an equally magnificent team. Liverpool were sharp from the off, pushing Chelsea deep into their half and strangling their attempts at asserting themselves.

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With runners and movement across the midfield, they had Chelsea chasing shadows, and it led to the errors in judgment that saw Conte’s men suffer.

First, a free-kick wasn’t properly cleared, which allowed three Liverpool players to ghost in at the back post unmarked. Dejan Lovren could make no mistake from close range, one-on-one with Thibaut Courtois.

Then came Jordan Henderson’s wonder goal, smacking the ball from range into the top corner of Courtois’ net. He had no chance at stopping it, but Chelsea’s defenders could have and should have closed down the throw-in that preceded the goal much quicker.

It was the sort of lapse in concentration that defined Chelsea’s miserable 2015/16. Lest we forget, six months ago, this team was done. We thought Chelsea as we knew them had drawn their last breath; a major reshuffle was needed to get them back on their feet and going again.

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Then Conte entered the fray, and we forgot just how bad it had been. In the early stages of the new campaign, it seemed Chelsea were fast-tracking their return to superiority; they were joint-top of the league with Manchester City going into the international break.

A draw and defeat later, and we’ve been reminded that the road to recovery is a long one. It’s going to take much more than Conte clicking his fingers and marching up and down the touchline to make the bad news all go away.

Brushing Burnley aside so comprehensively is one thing, yet to do it against Klopp’s Liverpool is quite another. This was Chelsea’s biggest test since the nightmare of last year, and they failed it.

“We must not forget the last season," Conte told journalists. "It’s important, this, because last season was a bad season. I don’t want to repeat the last season."

As much as it was a reminder of what has gone wrong, Conte was publicly reminding us all that improvements are needed. He can forgive errors at this stage, but as the season develops, they need to disappear.

“I don’t know,” he responded, when asked whether his players are still affected by how they tortured themselves last year. "But when you finish in 10th place, something strange happens. It’s not natural; it’s not simple. When you finish in 10th place, it means that we have to work very hard to improve [and] not repeat that bad season.

“I think that this season, the manager and the players—all the people who work for Chelsea—must take their responsibility. I repeat: We win together, and we lose together. That’s very important to understand. I don’t want a bad season like last season, and for this reason, we must pay attention in every single moment of the game—every minute.

“I am guilty because I am the coach, and it means that I have to work more. Now, it’s not enough because this is not the first time that it’s happened. We must feel the danger in every single moment of the game if we want to win and think like a great team. Chelsea is a great team, but we must show this in every single game.”

The manager’s assessment was on message. He was right. The issues that decided victory and defeat on Friday have reared their head already this season. Chelsea were able to deal with them when they could bully their opponents and get away with it. Not this time.

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That happened against West Ham United on the opening weekend, when they allowed the Hammers back into the game before Diego Costa rescued them; it was similar against Watford, when Chelsea had to come from behind to secure a 2-1 win.

Burnley was the exception, with Conte’s side looking at their most convincing. Despite dominating, they got away with it against Swansea City in their most recent away game, scoring late on to draw 2-2.

At this level, though, that luck can only get teams so far. And when Liverpool are in the sort of mood they were on Friday, it spells the end of the road for that lucky streak.

Chelsea shouldn’t feel too despondent, though. As much as those problems of old saw them relapse, the strengths we’ve come to identify with them were also particularly prominent.

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The game was as one-sided as it could be in the first half. Chelsea forced their way into it after the interval. That wasn’t through the power of their combinations but more their determination. Where they would have collapsed and let the game slip away last term, this year, they’re showing character and are back battling for points. Liverpool knew they had been in a game come the final whistle.

That’s where the optimism lies; Conte’s message is getting through, and the second half at Stamford Bridge is a symbol of that. Chelsea's season is just five Premier League games old, though. It’s going to take a whole lot more for those ghosts to be put to bed, and the manager knows it. Now the rest of us have to.

He wasn’t wearing a scowl on Friday; Conte’s look was more of a manager who knows he has taken on something of significance that requires patience if it’s ever going to work.

Conte explained that with his paradox. He used repetition to explain he wants to avoid repetition. The manager doesn’t want to see a repeat of last year; he’s aspiring to something a whole lot better.

Equally, he’s not fooling himself. This is the start, and his work here is not done. This may be Chelsea that he is in charge of by name, but this is by no means Conte’s Chelsea in spirit.

That’s all to come, and we’re the fools for ever thinking it had arrived.

Garry Hayes is Bleacher Report's lead Chelsea correspondent. Follow him on Twitter @garryhayes.