Forget the ‘Special One’ ... All hail ‘The Confather’ as League title approaches
LONDON: How quickly affections can switch in soccer. Where once they would serenade coach Jose Mourinho at Stamford Bridge with an operatic flourish, now Chelsea fans have fallen headlong for another man driving them inexorably to the Premier League title.
To the Bridge faithful, Mourinho’s “not special any more” now he’s pitched up at Manchester United but their embrace for coach Antonio Conte will be suffocating if he guides the Blues to a title-clinching victory at West Bromwich Albion tonight.
As the arty canvas held by his daughter at Monday’s home victory over Middlesbrough put it, the Italian is now already enshrined as “The Confather” to a happy family of ruthless operators in blue.
No wonder. Albeit a quietly charming, thoughtful figure away from the pitch, on the touchline Conte, pictured, comes across as a manic, hyperactive figure making demands of his players that they dare not refuse. Win this game or else, his eyes scream.
So don’t expect him to stop now. Conte has spent his time since the 3-0 drubbing of Middlesbrough trotting out his familiarly cautious mantra about hard work, fight and commitment still being needed to finish their efficient job.
Just a “little step”, he warned softly, but “one that won’t be easy”.
He hailed West Brom as “a really good, physical team” but, of late, the truth is that Tony Pulis’s eighth-placed side have looked anything but, having lost four of their last five games.
Conte also says guiding Chelsea to the league title from last season’s 10th-placed finish would be one of his best achievements as a manager.
Asked yesterday to sum up the impending crowning of his team, former Italy manager Conte was quick to point out the state Chelsea were in when he was appointed last year.
“First of all I like to underline that this season, it wasn’t easy at the start because we faced a lot of problems,” he told a news conference.
“We had to solve a lot of problems because when you arrive 10th in the league it means there is not one problem, there are a lot.
“The problem is not only one person. We started this season to try to solve the problems and find the solution to change the situation created in the previous season.
“I like these situations. With the national team I took over in the worst period. Then Chelsea in 10th, this is another big, big step for me. But in my career I enjoy to have this type of big challenge.”
If Chelsea win, they will have an unassailable 10-point lead over Tottenham Hotspur and will become English champions for a sixth time.
A defeat or draw, though, would still leave Spurs the flimsiest of lifelines as they prepare for an emotional afternoon at White Hart Lane on Sunday against United, fittingly illustrious visitors for the last match to be played at the Lilywhites’ 118-year-old stadium.
United may prove suitably distracted too with manager Mourinho having written off their chances of a top-four finish, while fluttering eyes only at the Europa League.
So, with United out of the equation, the fight for the third and fourth places to guarantee Champions League football next term reaches a critical point.
Manchester City will be in the driving seat if they beat Leicester City at the Etihad tomorrow, but it looks no easy task with last year’s champions belatedly reprising some of their 2015-16 heroics under Craig Shakespeare’s watch.
Victory would give Pep Guardiola’s side a two-point lead over Liverpool after 36 games, with Jurgen Klopp’s men then having to negotiate a tricky visit to West Ham United on Sunday in their penultimate match.
Arsenal, who beat Southampton 2-0 on Wednesday to move three points behind City in fifth, remain long shots in the top-four race as they face Stoke City tomorrow.
At the other end of the table, Sunderland may still be licking their wounds after already being relegated but they could still have a huge say in who joins them and Middlesbrough in the Championship.
With two games each left, it has come down to a three-way battle between Hull City (34 points), Swansea City (35) and Crystal Palace (38) to avoid the one remaining relegation spot.
Sunderland host Swansea tomorrow and if Paul Clement’s team prevail, it will only make it an even more nerveshredding Sunday lunchtime at Selhurst Park where the clash between Sam Allardyce’s Palace and Marco Silva’s Hull has been touted as the most expensive relegation tussle of all.
With relegation set to cost any of the three clubs flirting with the drop an estimated £100 million, Allardyce knows defeat could drag his side into a nightmarish final Sunday where just one point separates the trio.
“We can’t have the devastation of being relegated,” said the man who has, famously, never had to suffer the indignity in the Premier League. – Reuters