How Conte got this show on the King’s Road
TACT & TACTICS BUILT SUCCESS
ANTONIO CONTE arrived last summer with the least fanfare of all the big-name managers.
Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho stole the headlines, Jurgen Klopp was taking charge of his first full season at Liverpool. Conte was almost a footnote. Ten months later, he has stolen the show by winning the Premier League, has a shot at the Double, and his management style has set him apart.
His touchline histrionics paint a picture of a fiery Italian, temperamental and passionate, yet there is a very different side to the former Italy and Juventus boss.
A manager who has not only made a connection with the players, he has healed the divisions within the club, won over the supporters and revolutionised English football.
But the 47-year-old is also a charming man with a personal touch which has pulled everyone together after the divisive final days of Jose Mourinho’s second spell at Stamford Bridge.
When Conte arrived at the Cobham training ground, allowing himself just a week’s break after Italy went out of the Euros, it was not just a rigorous pre-season on his mind.
He hosted a barbecue, invited all the players’ wives, girlfriends, families and children. There was a bouncy castle, he helped cook the food and even organised a kids’ football match.
Diego Costa, still brooding and unhappy with his future uncertain, came off the training pitch sweating, saw the kids and joined in.
At Christmas, Conte turned up unexpectedly on his own – his wife Elisabetta and daughter Vittoria were still in Italy – at a party organised for the players’ children at Flip Out trampoline park in South West London.
Then the extra touch of buying every member of staff a Christmas present, left on their desk with a personal note of thanks.
Conte impressed the players and their families. He is a good communicator, brilliantly handled Costa’s January meltdown – the Spain striker’s head was turned by a huge offer from China – not backing down, dropping him and then easing him back into the team. Conte
also made an impression on his men by working up a sweat himself, going for a run after training most days. They like the fact he barks out orders but is not afraid to work hard himself.
At first there was so much to take in regarding information and preparation that the players struggled with the change, their heads ready to explode after video sessions.
That it would take time for them to adapt was highlighted when Chelsea lost 3-0 at Arsenal in September.
It was that day that Conte’s biggest revolution came. He went to a back three and made players work in a 3-4-2-1 system, getting the best from Victor Moses, David Luiz and, crucially, Eden Hazard, who revelled in his role behind the striker.
Chelsea went from strength to strength. The defence was tightened up, they went on a 13-game winning run, scoring 32 goals and conceding four.
Now all teams are going three at the back, even Arsene Wenger – who has built his career at Arsenal on an old fashioned English-style back four.
When the inevitable dip came after losing at home to Crystal Palace to let Spurs narrow the gap to four points, Conte summoned up his manmanagement skills again.
A tunnel bust-up involving Conte’s backroom and Manchester City staff had a galvanising effect.
In the dressing room after Chelsea’s vital victory, Conte delivered a tub-thumping speech to remind his players the job was not yet done.
It has not been an easy ride. He arrived on a three-year contract, worth by Chelsea standards a relatively low £5million-a-year, and early into his reign there was a rush of money on him being sacked.
Now he is the darling of the King’s Road, the king of Chelsea, and rules the Premier League with Italian style and a charming smile.