Antonio Conte is often accused of having a combative and eruptive persona, but so far into his Chelsea tenure, he has been able to mask it with a calm demeanor and a sense of subdued optimism.
He does not share Mourinho’s penchant for provocative humor, nor does he possess Klopp’s charming amicability or Guardiola’s professorial aloofness. But Conte is his own man. The Italian exudes energy, passion, and commitment, and is hoping to instill these qualities into a team that has shown fragility last season.
“All the players are starting to work well and find the right shape for the season,” the former Italy manager was speaking at a press conference after putting his team through an intense training session at UCLA, California. He is demanding of his team – asking them to push the envelope even as early as pre-season: “It is a friendly game, but it is important for me to transfer my ideas – to work on the physical and tactical aspects, as well as work on mentality and video analysis. My players are a bit tired this training – I know this well, but I want to see the improvement and fight despite being a bit tired after this training.”
Conte is fully aware that his team reached a low point last season and that the rebuilding is a challenge:
“Last season was a bad season, there were many, many reasons – not because of one single manager, staff or player. I think when you have a bad season like last season – I think the blame is on a bit of all. For this reason, it is important to create the right spirit and stay together – both if we win or if we lose.”
Rebuilding, however, takes time. Ahead of the friendly against Liverpool in Pasadena, Conte acknowledges that his opponents are one of many legit contenders this season, and that his counterpart Jurgen Klopp might have already had a head-start:
“I think Liverpool is one of the seven/eight teams that can win fight at the end to win the title. They are a good team, with good manager, play good football with intensity and good organization. Also Jurgen Klopp worked with his team for six months, which helps him to understand his team and (implement his style). Now we’re working in a different way with respect to last season. It is important to have time to transfer your ideas, but it is also important, too, to have the availability of the approach to (accept) these ideas.”
Somewhat peculiarly for a Chelsea manager, Conte is disapproving of big-money transfers in football today and stresses on the importance of passion, commitment and adaptability instead:
“We are seeing a crazy market, and it’s incredible – I don’t know if the situation continue. The prices are incredible. We must maintain the passion for this sport, this is the most important. The money is important for the club to reach the right target. To just spend money for the sake of spending money, I don’t think it is right for me. It is right to take the player and adapt our idea of football.”
Antonio Conte wants to drag this Chelsea up the table through sheer hard work and passion, and Chelsea’s season largely hinges on how effectively he can transfer his philosophies into his team. Whether he will be afforded time to do that, and how much his players buy into his personality, remains to be seen.
