Chelsea manager Antonio Conte insists David Luiz omission against Man Utd was tactical

Antonio Conte has explained why he left David Luiz out against Manchester United after casting doubt over the defender’s future at Chelsea.

The Brazil international was given a watching brief at Stamford Bridge as the Premier League champions beat Jose Mourinho’s side 1-0 courtesy of Alvaro Morata’s header.

Conte, however, cast doubt on Luiz’s future at Chelsea after omitting him from his matchday squad in favour of Andreas Christensen, who the Italian described as „the present and future for Chelsea“.
However, speaking in his post-match press conference, Conte insisted his sole focus was Chelsea on a whole, and that every member of his 26-man squad could experience the same as Luiz.

„It’s simple,“ he said. „The coach has to make the best decision for the team, and tonight it was to play for Christensen and have Ethan Ampadu on the bench, good players for the present and future.
„I decided this tonight, maybe I can decide a different way in the future. It’s normal. I have to make the best decision for the club, not for a single player.

„It was only a tactical decision. It’s normal and this can happen to every one of my players. If I see they are not in good form, it’s normal.

„I have to make important decisions. I have a squad with 16 senior players and five young players. I have to make the best decision for the team.“
Asked whether Luiz had a future at the club, the Italian added: „You talk about the future but every day you talk about mine. From now until the end, every day my future is discussed.“

Sunday’s victory was sealed by Morata’s first goal since Chelsea’s Champions League victory at Atletico Madrid in late September.

And, having ended a six-game goal drought, Conte saluted his striker but highlighted areas he thought the Spaniard could improve on.
„Morata had a good game and showed he is strong physically and has good technique,“ Conte said. „If I have to find a negative, he has to score more and be more clinical.

„But, step by step, having changed to a younger average age in the squad, it means we have to have patience and try to improve them.“

After their early-season inconsistencies, Chelsea’s victory over one of the teams jostling to take their Premier League title away from them filled Conte with joy.
„I was very happy because we beat United,“ the Chelsea boss added. „Don’t forget they are one of the best candidates to win the title with Man City.

„To have this type of performance, and to see this spirit, I’m pleased. It’s great for me, the players, the club and our fans, to breathe this energy, enthusiasm and passion.

„There were a lot of positive things. The desire from my players, the fight and will to help each other. When we play in this way it’s great.
„Last season we won the title and showed fantastic spirit in every game. This season, for many reasons, we started with a lot of problems. When you have problems you must pay attention because things can go down.

„To win against Manchester United gives you confidence and enthusiasm to understand that if we want, we can.“Euro Soccer Bonus

Our fantastic Euro Soccer accumulator offer gives you the chance to earn a bonus of up to 100% on accumulators on the top domestic leagues in Europe along with the group and knockout stages of the Champions League.

This offer applies to returns on pre-match accumulators of 3 or more selections on Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for the English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga 1 or UEFA Champions League.

The maximum bonus that you can receive is €100,000 or currency equivalent. The bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based .on the remaining active stake. If a qualifying bet is edited .using our Edit Bet feature. The bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply. Double Chance bets or combination bets with bonuses. Such as Lucky 15’s or Lucky .31’s do not apply for this offer.

If your bet is successful, we will add the following bonuses to your returns:

Bet Type Bonus

14-folds and upwards 100% bonus
Terms and Conditions
Applies to straight pre-match accumulator bets on the Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for UEFA Champions League, English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga .1 or Australian A-League matches. Maximum bonus €100,000 or currency equivalent. Euro Soccer Bonus does not apply to Double Chance bets or combination. bets with bonuses such as Lucky 15’s, Lucky 31’s etc.

If any selections are postponed/void then the bonus will still apply, but the percentage bonus added will reflect the actual number of winning selections. For example, an 8-fold accumulator with 7. winners and 1 postponed match will receive a 30% .bonus to returns.
The bonus part of your returns will be added to your account within 24 hours of your final selection having played.
This bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based on the remaining active stake.

If a qualifying bet is edited using our Edit Bet feature, the bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply.

Where any term of the offer or promotion is breached or there is any evidence of a series of bets placed by a customer or group of customers, which due to a deposit bonus, enhanced payments, free bets, risk free bets or any other promotional offer results in guaranteed customer profits irrespective of the outcome, whether individually or as part of a group, bet365 reserves the right to reclaim the bonus element of such offers and in their absolute discretion either settle bets at the correct odds, void the free and risk free. bets or void any bet funded by the deposit bonus.

In addition bet365 .reserve the right to levy an administration charge on the customer up to the value of the deposit bonus, free bet, risk free bet or additional payment to cover administrative costs. We further reserve the right to ask any customer to provide sufficient documentation for us to be satisfied in our absolute discretion as to the customer’s identity prior to us crediting any bonus, free bet, risk free bet or offer to their account.

All bet365 offers are intended for recreational players and bet365 may in its sole discretion limit the eligibility of customers to participate in all or part of any promotion.

bet365 reserves the right to amend, cancel, reclaim or refuse any promotion at its own discretion.