Antonio Conte brushed aside the praise being heaped upon him and his high-flying Chelsea team on Friday, adamant that he would not let the plaudits distract them in their surge towards the English Premier League title.
Earlier, Arsene Wenger, manager of one of Chelsea's main pursuers Arsenal, had suggested the Blues' six-point lead meant that the title is already "theirs to lose".
Yet Conte, while conceding that Chelsea's 12 successive league wins represented "a great achievement", is not buying into the idea that they are "super-favourites" when asked if he feels Wenger is trying to mess with the heads of his players.
"I think the most important things in our head must be to continue to work very hard, be focused game by game and remember this league is not easy and that we are doing very well," the Italian told reporters.
"At the start of the season, no one coach, no one person, no one journalist trusted in this team to fight for the title because we came after a bad season.
"But now I'm pleased that the opinion is changing, I'm worried because when the opinion changes quickly, you must pay attention. We only have six points more than the second-placed team (Liverpool).
"Twelve wins in a row is a great achievement but it's not enough to win the League at this point of the season. We've played only 18 games. There are 20 to finish the season."
Conte reiterated that Chelsea, who face Stoke City on Saturday, have money to spend in the transfer window but said he would not be overlooking the quality of his youthful back-up players.
"We have a lot of young players in the squad and I trust in them. With Reuben (Loftus-Cheek), (Nathaniel) Chalobah and also (Kurt) Zouma. If we can find the solution at home then it's important to look around."
Conte was understandably in high sprits even if he himself currently appears to be Chelsea's main injury worry.
He blamed his assistants Carlo Cudicini and Steve Holland in jovial fashion after he picked up a hamstring injury on a training run with them.
"They ran too strong," he said, adding that the injury would not force him to sit on the bench and tone down his trademark hyperactive jack-in-the-box impressions on the touchline.
Ibrahimovic believes United can still win title
Zlatan Ibrahimovic is on the brink of another notable scoring landmark in his remarkable career and believes his goal glut can still propel Manchester United to the Premier League title.
If the Swede scores against Middlesbrough at Old Trafford on Saturday, he will have netted 51 goals in the calendar year, equalling the best tally of 2016 recorded by any striker in Europe's top five leagues.
In his current searing form, few would rule out the prospect of this seemingly ageless figure netting the double that would take him past Barcelona's Argentine maestro Lionel Messi as the year's top marksman.
For, at 35, he appears to be playing as brilliantly as ever and is savouring his English football experience, a journey that started shakily but has gathered momentum as he has acclimatised to the hectic world of the Premier League.
Being the perfectionist he is, though, Ibrahimovic wants his goals to propel United nearer to the summit as they currently lie sixth, 13 points off the pace set by Chelsea.
"I'm happy, but I could be happier," Ibrahimovic said in an interview with ESPN.
Asked if United could still win the title, he said: "I think so...we had our moments where the results haven't been what they should have been after good performances, but we are still there and we have been closing the gap.
"So, hopefully, the other teams can do some mistakes and close the gap even more. We are working hard for it, believing in it, we are here to win.
"We have no excuses, we are here for what we are able to do and that's win a title."
As for his blistering form, having bagged 17 goals for United following his move from Paris St Germain where he scored 33 in 2016 to guide them to another French title, Ibrahimovic is enjoying proving a point to those who felt he might struggle in England.
"I talk with my feet, I don't get paid to talk with my mouth," he said. "I get paid to talk with my feet and that's exactly what I'm doing.
"I go into a season to do better than last season, because I know my last season was perfect, so I try to do it more than perfect and this is what I've been doing for the last 15 years.
"So what I'm doing now is nothing new, it's just another season in my story."
Yet how long will that story continue?
"I don't know, as long as I feel physically good, I'm not worried for what can happen on the field because in my mind I know what I'm able to do and I'm doing it," he said.
Liverpool need a leader to end title drought - Hysen
Liverpool need to find a leader and make Anfield a fortress again to end their long title drought, former Reds defensive anchor Glenn Hysen said.
Hysen was part of the last Liverpool team to lift the league trophy in 1990, and ahead of their New Year's Eve clash with Manchester City, he believes the title had become a monkey on the backs of the current squad.
"I think it's embedded in their minds - 'you haven't won the league since 1990' - and if you get that, it's tough. But I know that the whole town is optimistic," he told Reuters.
Second-placed Liverpool trail league leaders Chelsea by six points before Saturday's games.
The Reds showed character to come back from a goal down to thrash Stoke City 4-1 on Tuesday, but Hysen believes they still lack the general that could lead them to Premier League glory.
"They're still missing a real leader in the middle, a Steven Gerrard type. Guys like that don't arrive every day. Jordan Henderson is OK - he's not the kind that dictates, but he's still young."
Having dropped points to Bournemouth and West Ham United recently, Hysen belives victory over City will be necessary if Liverpool are to stay in touch with the leaders.
"There's a long way to go, but it'd be a damn good thing if they beat City. The four points they dropped to Bournemouth and West Ham...the league might be decided by four points. You have to take those points," he said.
"If they beat City, it won't decide the whole league, but they'll be in the picture."
