CONTE’S TACTICAL SWITCH THAT TURNED TITLE RACE
Chelsea can be champions with two wins in five days... it’s all down to a tactical switch, seven months ago
IT IS hard to imagine it is only just over seven months ago that Antonio Conte look beleaguered and Arsene Wenger stood beaming in pride as the Emirates hailed a renewed, restored Arsenal team who would no longer be intimidated.
Conte looked lost in England that afternoon of September 24, his team hopelessly exposed by a quicker, more aggressive Arsenal team who raced into a three-goal lead before half time.
It was the day that changed the title race but just not in the way Arsenal imagined.
Wenger was as buoyant as he gets. ‘I would be tempted to say it was one of the best performances in recent years,’ he said.
Conte, by contrast, wore the wary look of a man who knew he was being hunted. There was anger too. ‘I think we are a great team only on paper, not on the pitch,’ he said.
‘I prefer to be a great team on the pitch because that is the truth. The pitch is the most important thing, not words. I think there are many difficulties but if we understand this, I think we are in a great position to recover.’
Branislav Ivanovic was horribly exposed against Arsenal. The next time he would start for Chelsea was in the FA Cup third round against Peterborough and he would soon be off to Zenit St Petersburg. But Gary Cahill also had a calamitous game and even N’Golo Kante was ponderous.
The consensus was that the malaise of the 2015-16 season had yet to be shaken off. In the second half, Conte made his switch to a back-three. Glenn Hoddle, commentating on TV wondered if they might make it permanent.
What followed was a tactical masterclass producing 13 consecutive victories. Chelsea could be crowned champions at West Bromwich on Friday and in a season in which Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho were meant to be the dominant forces, that is an extraordinary achievement.
The back-three has, of course, been the key. Many were convinced that Conte had always wanted to impose it at Chelsea and only held back because he thought the players would struggle. Those that know him well disagree.
Giuseppe Cartisano, 74, who signed Conte for Lecce is often in touch with the Chelsea manager. He insists that 4-2-4 is his default system and that is what he was attempting early on at Chelsea and partly why the team looked vulnerable. ‘When Antonio went to Juventus as coach, he sent me a message,’ said Cartisano. ‘So I asked him: “How do you think you will play?”
and he said 4-2-4. After some days, he signed Andrea Pirlo so I sent him message: “Now, how do you want to play?”. Because with Pirlo it’s very difficult to play 4-2-4. And that’s when he started to play 3-5-2, because it was impossible to play 4-2-4 with Pirlo. ‘
After the Arsenal defeat, Chelsea’s players were about to discover what Conte does best. The squad, well drilled under Jose Mourinho, have been surprised to discover that Conte can take tactical preparation to another level altogether. There are more meetings and more time spent on the training ground walking through systems.
Giorgio Perinetti, 66, is now sporting director at Venezia but met Conte while on the technical staff at Juventus. He convinced Bari to give him his second managerial job after he had failed in Serie B with Arezzo and then convinced Siena to take him on after he had failed again at Atalanta. He knows Conte and his methods better than almost anyone.
‘His work ethic is very strong and at Chelsea, because they’re not in the Champions League, when he is able to work all week with team on the match, he is great,’ said Perinetti
‘Leonardo Bonucci says that when you play a match coached by Antonio during the week, when matchday comes, you feel like you’ve already played this game. He prepares so well that you feel you know everything. The key to his success is that he brings a concept which was new in Italy — playing with intensity and pressing the ball. And that’s an international tactic but here in Italy the rhythm was very slow. In Italy it was easy to win titles. He has so much experience playing abroad and for Juventus in the Champions League. He understands to win you need clear ideas, good tactics but also great physical preparation. Also he comes from Juventus and when you’re part of Juventus only one thing matters. Winning is the only thing that counts. If you have been at Juventus, this is part of your mentality.
‘He had great coaches, as he was coached by Carlo Ancelotti, Marcelo Lippi, Giovanni Trapattoni, Arrigo Sacchi for the national team. From Trapattoni, he probably took the Juve mentality of making sure you win. And from Lippi he takes the ability to manage the team best.’
Indeed, it is a golden age for Italian coaching. Ancelotti has just won the Bundesliga while Max Allegri, Conte’s successor is about to secure the Serie A title and may win the Champions League. Even Conte’s former assistant at Juve and the Italian national team, Massimo Carrera, is top of the league in Russia with Spartak Moscow.
In the Premier League four of the last eight champions — assuming Chelsea make it — have been coached by Italians, Conte joining Ancelotti, Roberto Mancini and Claudio Ranieri in the hall of fame.
Many will point to a coaching culture nurtured over decades at the Italian national technical centre at Coverciano near Florence, opened in 1958. Long before the UEFA A licence was conceived, Italians required their coaches to complete 900 hours or course work and a dissertation to work in football. Conte’s was entitled: ‘Considerations on 4-3-1-2 and the didactic use of video.’
He professes bemusement at the rise of the Italians. ‘Honestly, I don’t know. Every coach is different. For sure, in England, I looked at the past and saw many Italian managers won the title in England. I think it’s great for us, it’s great for our school.
‘But I think it’s not important, the country where you arrive. In England now there are top managers from different countries, and also I think we have really good English managers here.’
But he admits to some pride of his compatriots’ achievements. ‘I think it’s logical to be proud, no, for this? Last season I supported Claudio Ranieri a lot to win the title. In Italy we celebrated this win in a great way. I think Claudio deserved this for his career.’
He acknowledges that the Premier League provides unique challenges. ‘When you arrive and you face this league, you must change your mind on a lot of things to adapt very well and very quickly to this league.
‘This league is very difficult, very strong. It’s totally different to the Italian or Spanish leagues. Every single game you must fight a lot.’
But if an ability to adapt to new circumstances, not least a 3-0 defeat by Arsenal, is the key to success, then Conte has passed his latest test with flying colours.