Antonio Conte is a man of many virtues.
The Italian manager is an honest and hard-working man who wears his heart on his sleeve and as such is an adored and admired tactician by many around the globe.
Conte’s records speak of his tactical knowledge and huge managerial potential and there is no denying that Chelsea boss is one of the best football coaches in the world at the moment.
The 48-year-old Italian joined the Premier League giants in 2016 after leading the much-criticised Italy squad to Euro 2016 quarterfinal and went on to win the Premier League title in his first-ever season in England’s top tier.
Unburdened by the challenges of the European football, Antonio Conte used Premier League as his playing ground to conduct a series of trial and error experiments which ultimately led to him finding a winning formula through his trademark 3-5-2 formation after starting the season – and failing – in a 4-1-4-1 system.
Problems in Paradise
Having achieved the Premier League glory and having brought Blues back to the Champions League, Antonio Conte was expected to build on the success. Things, however, are not going according to plan and Conte himself appears to be carrying a great deal of blame.
Blues sit in fourth place in the standings with 22 points to their name after 11 games. Trailing leaders Manchester City by huge nine points, Chelsea face a daunting task of defending the title and with the latest news coming from Chelsea camp regarding David Luiz, it’s not hard to conclude that the Premier League champions are not in the best place at the moment.
Brazilian defender David Luiz has fallen out with Antonio Conte after he dropped him for the Manchester United match two weeks ago. Luiz and Conte had a bust-up after the AS Roma defeat when temperamental Luiz questioned Conte’s tactics.
And now British media report that Luiz could be on his way to Manchester United in January.
Standing up against a man such as Conte is never a good idea and David Luiz should have drawn such a conclusion from the curious case of Spain striker Diego Costa who also came at odds with Antonio Conte which ultimately resulted in him being transferred to Atletico Madrid this summer.
Military Man
Albeit an honest and loveable person, Antoni Conte is an ultimate power player and his last demonstration of dominance and ruling over the Chelsea locker room could potentially lead to a harmful end to his own Chelsea career.
Every manager should have full control of the locker room but Antonio Conte has apparently taken it to a whole different level with his military-like approach and his players are beginning to crack under relentless pressure.
What’s more, Antonio Conte himself looks conspicuously uninspired during his press conferences and many are prone to question his commitment to Chelsea following the most recent slump. Growing frustration led to whispers of his premature departure and many believe that Conte could even be tempted with a return to Italy’s national team to replace recently sacked Ventura. Conte is currently found at 10/1 betting odds to become the next Italy permanent boss.
Amidst all the burning Chelsea problems, the Italian might point his finger at anyone other than himself but should come to terms that he carries great blame for the current situation.
He might have replaced Diego Costa with a quality solution upfront in Alvaro Morata, but the departure of influential midfielder Nemanja Matic to Manchester United – which Conte is believed to have sanctioned – has already come to haunt him. Former AS Monaco star Tiemoue Bakayoko has failed to act as a worthy replacement for the Serbian anchorman up to this point in the season and has yet to justify the £40 million price tag.
Wrong Moves and Power Plays
Conte would be forced to grudgingly admit that he also made a mistake with authorising Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s loan to Crystal Palace, seeing that the England midfielder went on to impress and earn the international call-up thanks to his imperial displays in the first part of the Premier League season.
Tall and with great balance, Loftus-Cheek boasts an impressive set of technical skills which allow him to drill forward into the final third and take part in all aspect of creating his team’s play in front of the rival’s goal.
Not easily dispossessed and composed on the ball, Loftus-Cheek is the closest Chelsea have to Nemanja Matic on their books and they still let him leave Stamford Bridge.
Antonio Conte’s inability to cope with reality and the true extent of problems at Chelsea is becoming a huge problem for the Blues boss and it would be extremely interesting to see if the Italian could go on to turn the things around at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea continue their Premier League defence on Saturday away at WBA and can be found at 3/5 betting odds to claim important three points.
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