West Ham centre-back Angelo Ogbonna is eager to show Chelsea boss Antonio Conte what he learned from the Italian after playing for his Juventus and Italy sides respectively.
Chelsea kick-off their 2016/17 Premier League season against Ogbonna’s Hammers on Monday evening following a busy pre-season for both sides.
And according to The Evening Standard, Ogbonna is relishing the tie against his former boss, as he revealed to Italian outlet La Gazzetta dello Sport how strange it will be to line-up against Conte.
It’s something that has me feeling emotional given what he means to me as a coach, and how we left each other at Euro 2016. It was tougher than when I left Juve.
Despite only making one start for Italy at Euro 2016 under Conte, Ogbonna praised the Chelsea boss for how he treated the defender and is keen to show the former Italy and Juventus boss what he can do on Monday evening.
The European Championship was a complete experience. I really appreciated how he treated me. Even though he hadn’t called me in a year, he judged me based on what I did at the training camp. I wanted to be part of the group. I hope I can show him what I learned on the field on Monday.
Conte has already been tipped to overcome West Ham in his first competitive game in charge, and will be looking to steer the Blues back into contention for the major trophies following the disappointing 10th place finish last time around.
And Ogbonna believes Conte can recreate the sort of form which saw the Italian win three successive Serie A titles with Juventus.
I am convinced he will do well because he really looks at the human side of things. He maintains the rules and doesn’t place any limits on what he can do, which will be appreciated in England. He is a good coach that will find the right way of doing things.
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