Football
Debayan Sen 7y

Conte knows everything about the game - Zambrotta

New Delhi -- Antonio Conte's Chelsea will start marginal favourites at the Emirates Stadium against Arsenal on Saturday, according to Conte's former Juventus team-mate Gianluca Zambrotta, who will soon be seen in his new managerial role in the Indian Super League (ISL) with Delhi Dynamos.

"I have known Antonio as my captain, and the thing that sets him apart is that he knows everything about the game," Zambrotta, who has earlier managed Swiss club Chiasso, said. "He is a very good coach and has the record to show for it."

Zambrotta also had words of praise for Diego Simeone as a coach, and cites the Argentine and Conte as his two main managerial role models.

"Football is all about offence and defence working in tandem. This is the philosophy that I want to bring to Delhi Dynamos as well - how to defend with 11 players and also attack with 11 men. For instance, what Atletico Madrid do, they are all together in defence and attack. That's a good example to follow for Delhi Dynamos."

Zambrotta lauded Conte for Italy's performance at the summer's European Championships, which ended with a quarterfinal exit at the hands of Germany on penalties.

"The reason behind Italy's success was that they trained very hard, and that was down to the efforts of Antonio as coach. That too is a great example for Delhi to follow."

Zambrotta, a FIFA World Cup winner, said he aspires to coach in the leading leagues of the world, and sees India as a stepping stone to higher spurs in management.

"I am ambitious and I would love to develop both personally and professionally," he said. "But I'd like to take it one step at a time, and for the moment the step would be to grow with these players in this team and ensure we have a very good season."

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