Antonio Conte seems to be the next man to take over as Chelsea manager following Hiddink’s imminent departure, but could he be the right man for the difficult task?
Rebuilding Chelsea will be somewhat of a mammoth task for even a manager of Antonio Conte’s calibre as he lacks Premier League experience with all his previous managerial stints coming from Italy.
Conte’s contract with the Italian national team is set to expire after the European Tournament in France, which makes him free to join Chelsea in the summer.
Chelsea’s problems go far beyond spending £250million In the transfer window, and by the looks of things, Conte will have to make a keen evaluation of the Chelsea camp and take out any bad omens that might hinder Chelsea’s future successes.
If Conte doesn’t play his cards right then, it could very well be the beginning of Chelsea’s downfall just as we saw with David Moyes and Manchester United a couple of years ago.
During Conte’s time with Juventus, he averaged a win ratio of 64.62.
He won the Serie A title in each of his three seasons at Juventus including one season when the Bianconerri went unbeaten.
His impressive portfolio makes him look like the perfect fit for Chelsea due to his record of reviving struggling teams as seen in his time with Arezzo, Bari, Atlanta and Sienna.
What kind of tactical Changes can we expect from him
Conte has a long history with the 3-5-2 tactic; it’s obviously his favoured formation, and he thrived with it during his time at Juventus.
But it’s quite unlikely he’ll implement it at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea has been accustomed to making use of the 4-2-3-1 formation over the years. Nonetheless, I reckon we’ll see the 3-5-2 formation on a few occasions or even more regularly if Roman Abramovic agrees to a change in Philosophy.
Under Conte, Juventus were a team deficient in pace, but where they lacked speed on the pitch, they made that up with masterclass precision, organisation and strength.
Andrea Pirlo played a significant role in Conte’s time at Juventus as the former was somewhat of an anchor keeping things together in the middle of the park while supplying the likes of Carlos Tevez and Alvaro Morata with assists.
Fabregas is quite similar to Pirlo as the Spaniard has a keen eye for a pass and he also poses a threat from set pieces just like his Italian counterpart.
Conte will have his sights set on utilising Fabregas’ abilities to make the midfield a functional unit, so If at all there will be any sort of overhaul under Conte, Fabregas will most likely remain at Stamford Bridge.
Conte is not quite used to spending large sums of money to acquire world-class talent considering the fact that he only spent £15million to bring in Andrea Pirlo (free), Paul Pogba (free), Carlos Tevez (£6.75m), Arturo Vidal (£9.4m) and Stephan Lichtsteiner (£7.5m).
But the Italian tactician is well aware of the fact that he’ll have somewhat of a blank cheque in a bid to revitalise the Chelsea squad in the summer.
Although at this stage, Antonio Conte’s arrival is just a speculation, recent developments have hinted that the current Azzuri boss could find his way into Stamford Bridge in the summer.
Conte’s primary focus right now is Euros, and he’ll be looking to ensure Italy’s success in the illustrious competition before confirming his appointment at Chelsea.
