Antonio Conte has suggested that being the manager of Chelsea for the long term is the impossible job. The Italian referenced the high number of his predecessors who had been sacked from the post under Roman Abramovich's ownership – which is now in its 15th season – and he did not deny that he was set to depart in the summer.
Conte won the Premier League title in his first season last time out and he currently has the team in third place – albeit 15 points behind the leaders, Manchester City. He has got them to the last 16 of the Champions League, where they face Barcelona, while they entertain Newcastle United in the FA Cup fourth round on Sunday.
His tenure has come to be mired in escalating levels of conflict, with Conte protesting to the board about the thinness of his squad and how he does not have a sufficient say in transfer targets. The club maintain that they work to Conte’s recommendations.
There was a degree of I-told-you-so from Conte when he brought up how he had predicted last summer that this would be his most difficult season in management. He will continue to give his all yet it was jarring, to say the least, when he refused to take issue with a question that stated he was at war with the board, he was not talking to the director, Marina Granovskaia, and he was waiting to leave in the summer.
“I can tell you that I continue to work very hard for this club, for the players, for our fans,” Conte replied. “But I saw a bit the history of this club in the past and it was the same also for the other coaches. I don’t see a difference between me and other coaches that managed this situation.
“If I remember, at the start of the season, I said maybe this will be the most difficult season for me. I think that I have a great capacity to see very long [into the future].
“This is a great capacity I have. But we must be focused and give everything and know that we have to face great difficulties. If you know this, you are more ready to face this type of situation.”
Managerial sackings
Conte was asked whether he had come to realise what it was like for his predecessors.
“As I said before, my only worry is to work very hard but, for sure, if you look at the stats, you can see that in 14 years, 10 managers were sacked in this club. The stats are this. But, at the same time, when you are sure about your work and that you are doing everything to improve this club – I am very relaxed and I don’t have this type of worry.”
Conte got his numbers wrong. Abramovich has overseen eight managerial sackings, including two for José Mourinho, while he has employed a handful of caretakers. But the point that Conte sought to make stood. Nobody lasts particularly long. Mourinho made it a couple of months into his fourth season during his first spell and that remains the record under Abramovich.
This time last season, Chelsea had played 26 matches; now, the number is 38 and Conte does not believe he has resources to cope. What he did make plain was that his passion for the job had not waned; he is so consumed by his work that he is struggling to sleep at night.
“It is not simple, for sure, but people who know me very well know that I live this job with great passion,” Conte said.
“For this reason, sometimes I don’t sleep, especially when you have to face difficult situations. It is right to dream at the start of the season and then, there is the reality. You have to try to overcome the reality, like we did last season.”
– Guardian
