Conte must know he can never be boss at Chelsea
Daily Mail LONDON: For a successful club, Chelsea do have an uncommon way of finding trouble.
Jose Mourinho won the league and was in crisis almost as soon as the next season started. Roberto Di Matteo won the Champions League and lasted roughly six months. Carlo Ancelotti did the Double in his first season and was sacked a year later.
So it really shouldn’t surprise that, within weeks of landing the title, there is speculation over the future of Antonio Conte.
The mistake would be imagining that the turmoil means Chelsea do not have a coherent philosophy. They actually have a very strong philosophy. It just doesn’t include the manager.
Chelsea no longer lose fortunes in the transfer market. Chelsea sell to buy. Chelsea invest in the academy but largely use it as a revenue stream.
All of these are powerful principles in which the manager plays no part. He is asked his opinion, of course. He identifies areas that need strengthening, or others where profitable business can be done. And he’s handy to blame if a traded player turns up elsewhere and does well.
But Chelsea’s business is not the manager’s business and if that is what Conte wants, he is going to be disappointed.
Roman Abramovich has had 12 managers in 14 years, not including short-term caretakers Ray Wilkins and Steve Holland. Yet Chelsea have been hugely successful.
So the manager is an expensively hired hand, and that is all. He is invariably top quality, as are the signings, which helps. But the system is built to work no matter who is in charge, regardless of age, nationality or style.
Chelsea have a clearly defined outlook. But they do not, and will never, have an Arsene Wenger or Sir Alex Ferguson. They want Conte to sign a longer contract, but if he cannot stomach the lack of control, they will sacrifice him and find someone who will.
Ultimately, Arsenal caved to Wenger this summer, in a way Chelsea will not to any manager.
Arsenal relented on the issue of backroom staff, on the director of football, on strategy in the transfer market. No Chelsea manager will have that freedom while Abramovich is owner and, if that is what Conte seeks, even if he does not leave this summer, he will not be a long-term appointment.
In Abramovich’s time, Arsenal have had one manager and he has led them to the Premier League title and four FA Cups. Chelsea’s 12 have won five Premier League titles, four FA Cups, three League Cups, the Champions League and Europa League.
The club has identified a philosophy that bypasses the manager and any upheaval from his departure. Director of football Michael Emenalo consults, but playing the market is his role. Equally, Chelsea’s ethos does not have the aesthetic ambitions of Wenger at Arsenal, either.
Abramovich is said to like good football, but he likes winning more.
Real Madrid are Chelsea’s model. Between November 1986 and May 2013, Manchester United had one manager. Real had 26. They won 11 La Liga titles to United’s 13 in the Premier League — but landed the Champions League on three occasions to United’s two.
United took the FA Cup five times, Real the King’s Cup on three occasions. United won the Intercontinental Cup and Club World Cup, Real two Intercontinental Cups. They both won a single UEFA Super Cup. Real won Spain’s Supercopa nine times — United matched that in the English equivalent, the Community Shield.
The rolls of honour are almost mirrored — yet one was the work of an individual, the other a seemingly haphazard journey through global coaching styles.
Conte won th e league playing in a very different way to his predecessors. Juan Mata was one of Chelsea’s players of the season in 2013 and, after a change of manager, relegated to the fringes, then sold to United in the January transfer window.
So it is not as if consistency is demanded, as if Chelsea’s philosophy encompasses pla ying style. Managers pass through. They succeed or leave and another is installed.
This leaves Conte in an awkward position. He would be a loss, but so was Ancelotti, so was Mourinho, and Chelsea recovered both times. Conte no doubt feels he is in a position of strength having delivered the title, and a new way of playing, in his first season. Yet Chelsea will not see his presence as the dealbreaker.
Conte is mistaken if he thinks recent success can be played as a trump card. Chelsea’s manager is a member of staff, and no more. Daily Mail