Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has heaped praise upon Luis Enrique despite rumors of the Spaniard potentially taking over at Stamford Bridge.
Conte has come under scrutiny in the past few months, and after recent defeats to both Bournemouth and Watford, the Italian is reportedly close to being sacked - with Enrique lined up as his replacement.
Winning the title last year was the worst thing to happen to Antonio Conte.
Expectations immediately became to high for this season. We clearly overachieved, and it is showing. No surprise we are only in the fight for Top 4.
— Lav (@LavCFC) February 11, 2018
However, despite the rumours linking Enrique to replace Conte, the ex-Juventus manager has praised the former Barcelona boss and claimed that he is a 'fantastic' coach, as reported by the Mirror.
"Yes, I have spoken with him. I know him. We played against each other, and he’s a really good person. When I was the coach of Juventus, he was Roma’s coach.
"I have great admiration for Luis Enrique and, sometimes, he is a fantastic coach. He reached his targets with Barcelona, and also with Roma, you could see a well organised team. I can speak about him very well, as a person and a coach.''
Here are the best managers in Europe based on win rate. So why are we sacking Antonio Conte? Will be a lifetime blunder. It's clear he needs better resources pic.twitter.com/qpXpCIZmDZ
— Izzoh (@TailoredConte) February 11, 2018
Enrique has been out of work since leaving the Catalan giants in the summer of 2017. The Spaniard brought success to the Camp Nou, winning a treble with the club back in 2015.
As for Conte, he cannot afford yet another slip up when his side face West Brom on Monday night, and if the Blues were to lose for the third Premier League game in a row Conte could well be out the door at Stamford Bridge.
- 90Min