Chelsea utterly incompatible with stability as Antonio Conte exit looms

By Ifeanyi Dimkpa On Mar 15, 2018

Chelsea utterly incompatible with stability as Antonio Conte exit looms

BARCELONA — As he showered Lionel Messi with praise in the Camp Nou conference room you got the impression that Antonio Conte appreciated the chance to answer questions about the brilliance of a genius rather than the latest defeat of a Chelsea season drifting towards the finish line. When the dust settles, though, nothing — not Messi’s performance, not the visitors’ misfortune, not even the fundamental soundness of his tactics at Stamford Bridge and Camp Nou — will obscure the reality that if, as expected, Conte and Chelsea go their separate ways this summer, both parties will do so feeling unfulfilled.

By winning the Premier League title so convincingly last season and charming supporters with his personality and passion, Conte raised hopes that Chelsea had finally found a charismatic coach capable of matching Jose Mourinho’s lasting impact at Stamford Bridge. Instead, he has become just another renowned name worn down and driven to distraction by a club culture that appears utterly incompatible with stability.

Chelsea have rarely felt like champions since May. A troubled summer transfer window was compounded when Manchester City disappeared over the horizon in the autumn, leaving Conte to dwell both privately and publicly on the elusive targets that might have at least prevented the gap at the top of the table from becoming a chasm. His complaints often felt like an unsubtle attempt to control the narrative of his eventual departure and did nothing to improve the mood of his squad, most of whom have failed to get anywhere near the standards of consistency and quality set in 2016-17.

In the absence of any sort of Premier League title defence the Champions League provided much-needed purpose for everyone, though perhaps not quite enough focus in the group stage; it will not have gone unnoticed by the Chelsea hierarchy that Roma are in the quarterfinals after making the most of their easier round-of-16 assignment against Shakhtar Donetsk.

Conte saw on the European stage an opportunity to address the one major blight on his stellar coaching record, while the majority of this Chelsea squad have experienced only disappointment in the Champions League or exile from the competition since reaching the semifinals in 2014. Now it is over, the question is whether the Italian or his players have enough motivation left to power a strong domestic finish.

There remains plenty to aim for; FA Cup glory has often provided the silver lining at the end of disappointing Chelsea seasons in the Roman Abramovich era, while Harry Kane’s ankle injury makes catching Tottenham in the top-four race a more credible prospect than it seemed even a week ago. Yet such targets are jarringly underwhelming for a team so recently regarded as the best in England.

In any case, Chelsea’s recent form offers little hope of a happy ending. They have won just five of 17 matches across all competitions in 2018, a record bettered by Everton, Brighton and Swansea City over the same span. Not since Manchester United tasted defeat at Stamford Bridge in November have Conte’s men beaten an opponent of note while Leicester City, Bournemouth and Watford have all claimed points at their expense.

Underpinning it all is the sense of a team reaching the end of a cycle, and of a manager on the lookout for a fresh challenge. Conte knows that his title-winning exploits in two countries will ensure he is more coveted than most in a summer likely to see several of Europe’s elite clubs looking for new leadership. Paris Saint-German have already been linked with an approach.

Chelsea’s next steps are more uncertain. Abramovich and his advisors will always back themselves to find another coach, but Wednesday could prove to be the club’s last taste of Champions League football for some time. If it does, Eden Hazard and Thibaut Courtois will become significantly harder to keep, though neither did anything to impress Real Madrid president Florentino Perez at the Camp Nou.

Grizzled veterans Gary Cahill, Cesc Fabregas, David Luiz and Pedro Rodriguez are all out of contract in the summer of 2019 and of the younger crop, only Andreas Christensen projects to be world class. Significant investment is required with or without Conte, but Abramovich has done nothing to suggest he is willing or able to compete at the top of a hyperinflated transfer market.

Everything points to this summer being a vital one for determining Chelsea’s future trajectory, and the coming weeks will determine whether they embark on the rebuild from a position of strength or weakness. Much now rests on the desire of Conte and his players to get immediate results in the service of longer-term goals that they may not have a stake in. If spirited resistance at the Camp Nou proves to be the final flourish in a stuttering season, Messi’s mastery will be the least of the concerns at Stamford Bridge.

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