Antonio Conte created a kingdom in Italy but he can build an empire in England
It would be foolish to doubt the stature of a club as majestic as Juventus. The Turin giants have conquered the Italian top flight a record 33 times, even if the Calciopoli scandal is not taken into consideration. Yet, the incident did impact the state of the club to a large degree. So much so that since their promotion back to Serie A in 2006/07, they failed to collect a single piece of silverware for nearly four years.
They had a number of managers and caretakers during that period, none of them who were able to deliver a positive impact on the club. Even Claudio Ranieri couldn’t do better than getting the Bianconeri to third place. Something had to change, and eventually, they relocated to their now modernised 40,000 capacity Juventus Stadium.
Awakening of the fallen giants
The biggest change, though, came from the mind of a Juventus legend who had just earned Siena a promotion to the Serie A. Antonio Conte was appointed as the new manager of Juventus, a decision that would go on to change the way the team is perceived in the modern era.
The Italian won three consecutive league titles with his former club while smashing a number of records in the process, out of which the most noteworthy ones being his side conceding 20 goals in a league season becoming the first side in Italy to go unbeaten for 38 games.
He won them titles, but he did something much more valuable than just delivering three trophies to the newly-renovated J-Museum. He built a core that was endurable enough for the future – featuring the likes of Paul Pogba, Arturo Vidal and a rejuvenated Andrea Pirlo at the heart of the team.
He reignited a winning mentality in the club when someone needed to remind them the importance of doing so. He got them back on track. But this wasn’t enough for Conte, he wanted to do more, which eventually became his vice at Juventus.
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Fallout with the Old Lady
The world of football was shocked in May 2014 when Conte announced his departure from Juventus via mutual consent. It was strange but was reportedly due to multiple disputes with the management which the Italian was “just tired of”, according to club icon Pavel Nedved.
In Andrea Pirlo’s autobiography “I think, therefore I play”, there was a very interesting insight into why the three-time Italian champion chose to depart the Turin club.
“Conte wanted Cuadrado, but Juventus couldn’t afford to buy him from Fiorentina. On top of that, the club failed to ensure the permanence of Arturo Vidal and Paul Pogba at the Stadium. Moreover, Conte did not agree with the club’s friendly summer tours. The former Juventus boss was also at loggerheads with the club’s Director of communication Claudio Albanese.”
The disputes also had to do with certain decisions that the club had mutually taken which Conte felt helpless against, as he could not do anything to stop them, such as the club’s pre-season tours.
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Arrival in England
After a decent stint with the Italian national team, Conte made a return to club management with Chelsea. The Blues were fresh off one their worst season in the Roman Abramovich era which saw Jose Mourinho getting the boot. The squad was was talented yet in tatters, and finished at a lowly 10th place in the Premier League.
There were echoes of a similar story to that of his time at which he took the reins at Juventus. Chelsea were one of the most successful clubs in English football since 2004 (ironically, Mourinho’s first season) and are still the last English club to win the Champions League.
In his first press conference in England, he said the following words: "I also hope obviously that we are slightly underrated, if you will, but I hope that we are in there and I hope we can surprise people and that this can motivate us further. I hope that there is a small flame flickering that can eventually grow into a blazing inferno."
Looking back at these words after his champions-elect ran merry hell and conquered the English top flight, it seemed like the subtlest of warnings that no one cared to heed.
Conte’s arrival sparked a revolution not just at Stamford Bridge but in the Premier League itself.
His 3-4-3 set up was absolutely revolutionary, with the biggest testimony to that being the fact that since he debuted that formation in the second half of an Emirates battering. And by the end of the season, all other top-seven sides have at least once experimented with the three at the back system.
It was so effective that it was the very same system that was used against them by Tottenham and Manchester United to beat them because, clearly, no other system worked against the eventual champions.
Similar to what he did at Juventus, he didn’t just deliver a prestigious trophy for the London side to show off. His Chelsea side played with vigour, a determination like never before, highlighting the man managing prowess Conte possesses. Within a season he managed to change the very mood and mindset of the club. The players seemed to give it all every time they stepped onto the pitch, with a fire like never before.
His ability to get the most out of his players is uncanny and eerily reminiscent to that of Sir Alex Ferguson’s. He won a title by playing Cezar Azpilicueta, a right-back who was turned into a left back at centre back, and playing Victor Moses – a loan spell merchant at Chelsea at right wing back to phenomenal effect.
In addition, he was able to command a mental response every time that they trailed, he was able to keep their feet on the ground every time the dismantled an opposition.
Eden Hazard had one of the worst seasons of his professional career during 2015/16 and had the best goal return of his professional career during 2016/17 – highlighting the stratospheric impact that the Italian had on his players.
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Building for the future and contract dispute
Perhaps his biggest flaw in his short yet successful managerial career is the lack of success in Europe. Juventus under Conte have been quite passive on the grand stage, which is something quite hard to analyse. Whether it be the lack of experience playing in the most coveted completion in club football or not having the right personnel, it has been quite a strange phase of Conte’s asserted dominance wherever he has managed.
This is summed up by the fact that his best performance in Europe has not even been in the Champions League but in the Europa League, where he dragged his side until the semi-finals of the competition. They were defeated by eventual winners Benfica.
He fell out with Juventus due to a number of reasons – one of the biggest being the financial outlay of the transfer policy. He presently won the title for a club owned by the 50th richest man in the world, so finances ideally shouldn’t be much of a stumbling block for the former Siena manager. If it does, though, there is a problem either with the magnitude of the Italian’s personality or the logical understanding of the Russian billionaire.
With reports suggesting that Chelsea are attempting to lure world-class players such as Alex Sandro, Leonardo Bonucci, and Romelu Lukaku to Stamford Bridge, things seem to be going smoothly – unless Conte refuses to sign the contract extension at hand. There have been numerous reports suggesting that Conte is on the brink of a major fall out with the Chelsea management over certain demands of his that haven’t been met.
"Antonio would be their most important signing - for me, he was their man of the season. You talk about the Player of the Year, I'm all for giving the players credit but because it was such a dramatic uplift from the year before I think you have to give him huge credit,” said Chelsea Frank Lampard on the situation.
“You saw the system change and how he made them play in that formation, it worked well. I think he's a huge signing for them. I have no doubts, I don't know but I'm pretty confident he'll be there and they'll bring in players to play in the system he wants to play."
If he doesn’t, it is not just Chelsea but the Premier League who lose a great manager from their ranks.
If he does, then he can make Chelsea even more than just a blazing inferno – he can create an empire in England with Stamford Bridge at the heart of it.
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