Conte: Chelsea are only a good team on paper

Boss Antonio Conte described Chelsea as “a good team only on paper” after their defeat by Arsenal.

First-half goals by Alexis Sanchez, Theo Walcott and Mesut Ozil inflicted the Blues’ second straight Premier League loss.

Conte refused to criticise his defence, insisting Chelsea win as a team and lose as a team.

But he warned his players they must start living up to their personal reputations if they are to avoid a repeat of last season’s mid-table finish.

“I think we are a good team only on paper, not on the pitch,” he said.

“The pitch is the truth. It is the most important thing – not the words.

“Last season was a bad season. We know there are many difficulties I think if we understand this we are in a good position to recover.

“We must work a lot to improve and change the situation.”

Conte blamed a lack of concentration for the poor first-half performance, which left them with a mountain to climb.

He said: “We started the game in a bad way, from the first minute – this is very strange.

“Arsenal v Chelsea is a massive game and I think when we play this type of game against a very good team we must stay concentrated from the first minute. Today it did not happen.

“[But] I think it’s not good to talk about the defenders. I think it’s most important to talk about the whole team because we are a team – we win as a team, we lose in the same way.

“The players, the staff, the manager, we must all take responsibility.”