Don’t kill our spirit
WHEN Antonio Conte gathered his Juventus players together on taking over at the club in the summer of 2011, he was uncompromising. ‘Lads, we’ve finished seventh in the last two years,’ he said. ‘Crazy stuff, absolutely appalling. I’ve not come here for that. It’s time we stopped being c**p.
‘Turning around this ship is not a polite request; it’s an order, a moral obligation. You guys need to do only one thing and it’s pretty simple: follow me. Get it into your heads. We must return to the levels where we belong, the ones written into the history of this club.’
According to Andrea Pirlo, who recalls that speech in his autobiography I Think Therefore I Play, it was enough to reboot the club. Juventus had just moved into their new stadium that summer. Though initially they had seemingly recovered from the indignity of being relegated due to the calciopoli scandal in 2006, returning to Serie A and finishing third and second, their progress had ebbed away. They were treading water at best; sinking at worst. Yet under Conte they won the league that year and, in fact, for three consecutive years.
It is hard to avoid the analogies with Chelsea last summer. Conte inherited a troubled club, with fans and players having been riven apart by the whole Jose Mourinho fiasco, which had seen the likes of Diego Costa, Eden Hazard and Cesc Fabregas arbitrarily blamed for the demise of a celebrated coach and one who had become hugely divisive at the club. More to the point, mediocrity abounded, as was evident by the tenth-place finish.
Forging team spirit appears to be one of the great strengths of Conte. It has been evident at Chelsea: in the family barbecues in the early part of the season and in the club outing to a trampoline park shortly before Christmas.
It was also evident with the Italian national team; witness the tears of Andrea Barzagli when Italy were eliminated from Euro 2016 and the Conte era came to a close. Sources close to the Italian team say that Conte’s bond with the team was so great that had he not already agreed to join Chelsea, he would have found it impossible to leave.
Which is why the fall-out with Diego Costa prior to the Leicester game eight days ago was so potentially disruptive. Conte’s team have been a world removed from the dysfunction of last season. Though prominent players who are not in the first XI are fretting about the new regime, that is only normal.
In the main, the squad seem united. It was noticeable that all ten outfield players celebrated together when Pedro scored the third goal at Leicester.
Conte recognises that need for such momentum to maintain and build on his lead at the top of the table.
‘If you want to win something during the season, it’s important to build this unity in the team,’ he said. ‘It’s very important to have a good spirit. I think we are showing this.
‘In every team I’ve managed, I’ve always tried to build the right spirit. It is fundamental if you want to have a good season. It’s not easy to create and you have to take different steps.
‘When you start pre-season, when you arrive at a new club, it’s not easy. You have to bring your habits, methods and philosophy. You also have to make decisions with the players: who starts the games, who goes on the bench, who goes in the stands.
‘It is not easy to create a good spirit. You do it day by day. But I’m pleased to see this unity in my team.’
Conte’s words are almost a challenge to Costa. His long-term future at the club may remain in doubt. Chelsea were considering a new £250,000-a-week deal for their top scorer, one which at the age of 28 would see him well into this 30s. Yet a Chinese club could double that.
Conte, with the help of senior players and with his own firm management seems to have brought Costa round for now and he is likely to start against Hull today. But there seems to be an element of even enticing Costa to reconsider his summer plans, demonstrating to him that were he to stay at Chelsea rather than leave, that things could get even better; that the club are only at the start of fully absorbing the Conte way.
‘I’m pleased that we’ve reached this level after only five or six months,’ said Conte. ‘I can improve our level with more work. The most important thing is I have players who want to work.’
At Juventus, Pirlo recalls how Conte turned around their mentality but it was not just a feelgood rallying cry which transformed the club but also a tactical adjustment.
Conte is by no means a defensive coach but his teams are built on certain foundations. The season before he took over at Juve, they conceded 47 goals in Serie A. They let in 20 during Conte’s first season. After 21 games last season, Chelsea had conceded 31 goals. This season it is 15.
‘The season before I arrived at Juventus they conceded a lot of goals,’ said Conte. ‘Then we started on a path which brought us to three consecutive titles, to be the best defence and to concede the fewest goals in Italy. So it’s important to trust in the work. Only the work can improve the situation. And it’s important to have great players. I think I have great players with great hunger to work and improve.’
As at Juventus, as with Italy, Conte has players with whom he seems to bond — and who responded to him. Whether he can bring Costa back into that fold remains to be seen. But Chelsea look likely to thrive, with or without him.
Conte warns Costa not to wreck his hard work that has put Chelsea at the top