Conte has defended Tiemoue Bakayoko’s performance in the Blues defeat to West Ham
Conte says he needed to switch from a more defensive-minded player to bring on a player who could break the defence, which was winger Pedro.
However, the Italian was generally happy with Bakayoko’s display
Speaking after the match, he explained his reasoning behind the substitution: ‘It was a tactical decision because I think Bakayoko was playing a good game. ‘But when you find 11 players behind the ball and you are losing 1-0 it is important to change something to find a different solution.
‘In this case Pedro has different characteristics to Bakayoko. He’s better one-v-one, he’s a more technical player. ‘To lose a physical player it wasn’t important after the first half. But it was only a tactical decision. The player satisfied me with his performance.’