When Henry met Conte…

Chelsea face Liverpool in the Premier League at Stamford Bridge on Friday Night Football and ahead of what promises to be a fascinating clash, Sky Sports pundit Thierry Henry chats exclusively to Blues boss Antonio Conte.

Henry, who played alongside Conte during his brief stint at Juventus in 1999, discusses the 47-year-old’s two-year spell in charge of Italy which came to an end after defeat to Germany on penalties in the semi-finals of Euro 2016.

Since then Conte has replaced interim boss Guus Hiddink in the Chelsea dugout, with the Italian making a big impression in west London by guiding the club to second in the table heading into the showdown with Liverpool.

Meanwhile, the duo also chat about Conte’s coaching style, how he is settling into life in the capital and the challenge of facing Jurgen Klopp’s side, who sit just three points behind the Blues ahead of kick-off…

HENRY: People cannot stop talking about you on the touchline kicking every ball and I like that about you…

CONTE: When I became a manager, my enthusiasm became more because when you have the possibility to waste your energy and show your passion during the game, it is good.

But when it is impossible to waste your energy and stay on the bench and watch the game tensely, it is very difficult,

But for me, it is normal to show that passion and sometimes it happens when we score a goal at the end and you win a fantastic game, like against Spain, I show my passion, but I am myself.

HENRY: For me, Italy versus Spain was the best game of Euro 2016 because of what you did. I have never seen an Italian side play like that before, defending high, playing out from the back – so why did you say, we are not going to be the normal Italian side and be proactive, not reactive?

CONTE: It was very important to play a friendly game against Spain in March and after that game, the players started to understand very well how to face Spain.

We stayed with a 3-5-2 and in a defensive situation, we wanted to press very high, but against Spain we went with a 3-4-3, a different system for that game. But I think that we played a very good game against Spain with and without the ball and I am proud of the team for doing this.

HENRY: You had a lot of the guys from Juve before, so did that help you when working with the national team?

CONTE: Yes a lot as with the national team there were four Juventus …

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