Chelsea manager Antonio Conte forced to put English lessons on hold during busy pre-season schedule

Learning curve: Antonio Conte wants to improve his English
Srdjan Stevanovic/Getty Images
Simon Johnson1 August 2016

Antonio Conte admits he has been so busy trying to make an impact and introduce new tactics at Chelsea, he's had to put English lessons on hold.

The new Chelsea coach has been with the squad for less than three weeks, but is working day and night to get the team ready for the start of the season.

Conte has been taking English lessons for over a year and has impressed with his ability to communicate so far.

But such is the Italian's dedication to his new role, the 46-year-old has fallen behind on his homework.

He said: "For me, I have to improve (my English) a lot. When we go back to London, I will start English lessons. I think it’s very important to find the way to explain, to speak.

"There are many different people who don’t understand English but I think for the manager it’s important and I studied before to improve my English."

Chelsea have been away in Austria and the USA at pre-season training camps, which hasn't helped the Italian's ability to hit the books.

The Blues play their last game in America against AC Milan in Minneapolis on Wednesday before flying home after the game.

Conte added: "Now I want to restart …I thought in these days, in Austria and now in America, can I have the time to study? No.

"Every minute is for the team and to prepare, to study the video for the game, of the training session, to see the right position, the right movement, the defence situation, the attack situation.

"And for these reasons, to find a minute to study English is very, very difficult. When we go back to London, I will have the morning or the afternoon to study. I want to improve."

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When asked if he had found it hard to learn a new language, he said: "Now I am starting to understand a bit.

"The most difficult for me is to understand. People can speak very quickly and now I understand that I have been understanding two or three words but imagining the question and sometimes guess wrong."

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