Just when Antonio Conte thought the pressure was off.Chelsea's start to the season has been mixed, but they seemed to be putting a run of form together with consecutive wins over Watford, Everton, and Bournemouth.So, what on earth happened to their defence when they travelled to Roma in the Champions League?The Serie A outfit took the lead after just 39 seconds, Stephan El Shaarawy netting his first of two goals on the night.Diego Perotti added a third to raise serious questions about the Blues' defence.This was equal to their worst defeat during the Conte era - the last time they lost by three goals was against Arsenal in September 2016.Perhaps the result shouldn't come as too much of a surprise, as they threw away a two-goal lead in their previous 3-3 draw against Eusebio Di Francesco's side.However, Conte is bound to encounter fresh criticism following another concerning display.It would be one thing if the performance had been decent, but the whole way in which Chelsea set up looked wrong from the first whistle.

Gerrard criticises Conte  

Steven Gerrard summed it up perfectly by comparing their tactics to the Atletico Madrid game in September, which they won 2-1.

The former England international told BT Sport:

"I think Conte's disrespected Roma today. I think he showed Atletico Madrid fantastic respect by just going: Hazard behind Morata and having a lot of bodies behind the ball, packing the midfield.

"Today he went with a very, very bold team selection and it's backfired."

While he won't have been aware of Gerrard's comments at that stage, Conte offered a very different perspective of who was to blame.

Chelsea lacked fight 

"In the second half, it was a really bad performance," he told BT Sport, per ESPN.

"Roma showed more will to fight and more desire to win the game. I'm very disappointed with our second half. For this performance, we all have to take responsibility.

"When you concede three goals, you must be worried. It means something doesn't work. It's very difficult now, but we have to analyse the game. We need to work on the tactical aspect. We are working less on this aspect this season. We have to look at ourselves."

It doesn't get any easier for him, as his men face Jose Mourinho's Manchester United at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. To make matters worse, the Red Devils boss will be riding high off the back of a 2-0 win over Benfica.

Should Conte be blamed for the result? Have your say in the comments.