THE MADNESS OF KING CONTE’S ANTICS ON CHELSEA TOUCHLINE
THE lord of the touchline dance is also the king of the Premier League. In the mind of Antonio Conte, the two factors are linked.
He gave an amusing insight this week into the brilliant madness of his touchline behaviour, revealing in one breath the mild sense of ‘shame’ he feels when he watches his antics back on television but conceding in the next how he could not exist as a manager without that arm-waving passion.
It has become a fun sideshow of Chelsea’s title charge. Take last weekend, when he celebrated Eden Hazard’s goal in the 3-1 demolition of Arsenal by diving into the crowd. He also pushed around his assistant, Angelo Alessio, when N’Golo Kante did not track back on a set-piece.
In those moments of heat and intensity, he has previously joked he is ‘capable of killing anybody’, which is perhaps appropriate for the manager of a team so adept at bludgeoning all comers on the pitch.
Before today’s match at Burnley, Conte was asked to discuss his touchline habits. They are the kind of subjects that take over in the rare instances when a club have no obvious concerns.
‘It’s not easy for me to see me in this situation because I don’t like to see myself again after the game,’ he said. ‘It is not because I have a strange attitude or strange behaviours but because I don’t like to see it. Sometimes I’m a bit ashamed to show all this passion.
‘It’s my enthusiasm. I live the game in this way and not only in England. If you remember during the Euros, if you remember in my past with Juventus, when I started my career, I live the game with great passion and enthusiasm. Sometimes for me it’s very hard to keep this passion under control. Sometimes I want to share my passion with fans, with my staff, with players.
‘When I was a player and I scored always I showed my passion with great celebrations. I scored not a lot but when it happened, I showed great passion. I live football with great passion and great enthusiasm — I put a lot of myself in my work.
‘It’s funny. My daughter watches every game and stays five metres behind me in the stands. I want this. For me it’s a great support — my daughter and my wife. I think it’s important for my daughter to see my will to win. I try always to transfer the right education to my daughter.
‘As a manager this is my way. It’s not good to judge someone who is always sitting during the game. And it’s not good to judge if one manager stands up for all the games. The moment you see me staying seated, you must be worried. Above all my club must be worried, because I think I finished my passion.’
It’s easy for Conte to find things to laugh about right now. Chelsea have threatened to render the title chase a non-event less than a fortnight into February, with a forthcoming run of fixtures against Burnley, Swansea, West Ham, Watford, Stoke and Crystal Palace that could pass without a dropped point. Burnley will pose a challenge in as much as they have been so exceptional at Turf Moor, with only Chelsea and Spurs winning more than their nine home games.
But Chelsea have built a head of steam and even Diego Costa’s future seems to have settled for now.
Against that backdrop, Conte gives the impression of a man with precious few worries. He was able to discuss Cesc Fabregas’s complex situation, conceding that he has the luxury with this squad to leave out a ‘football genius’.
Fabregas appeared to be issuing something of a lament last week when he pondered how players of skill and subtlety, such as himself, were playing second fiddle in an era of power and athleticism.
Conte offered little reassurance of more playing time, despite some effusive praise. He said: ‘Cesc is a top player and is a genius at football. I can talk in the same way about Andrea Pirlo. Cesc if he doesn’t run 100m in 10 seconds, I can allow him this, because he’s a genius with the ball. His velocity is in his mind. With Cesc we are working a lot on tactical aspects and to improve also the position. ‘Sometimes you must make the decision and to look at the balance of the team. Don’t forget in his place is playing Kante and lot of people say he is the best player in the league. ‘Then there is Nemanja Matic and he too is playing in an outstanding way. When you have two players playing in front so well it’s not easy. ‘But I prefer to have this type of problem.’ They are the kind of problems that will not keep Conte from dancing.