da prosport bet： Managers have been the focus of this Premier League season. Whether it be Arsene Wenger’s retirement, Pep Guardiola’s tactics or Jose Mourinho’s passive aggressive press conferences, the men in the dugouts have been the centre of attention.
da casino： Antonio Conte has been the deity of the bunch. Treated as if he had emulated the wonders of Leicester City last season, the former Juventus boss has been the recipient of praise from left, right, centre and the Match of the Day studio. In truth, Conte has taken a squad of champions without the legwork of European football and made them a strong team once again. Mourinho’s horrific 2015/16 campaign at Chelsea was always going to prove to be an outlier and it has only furthered the Blues’ cause this season.
Chelsea have benefitted from the extra rest days in midweek. Their impressive winning streak would not have happened without the breaks between fixtures and it has allowed Conte to name almost the same line-up week after week. The only tweak he has made is playing Willian ahead of Pedro on occasion, although Willian has only started 12 league matches this season.
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Conte’s squad management ability has not been tested significantly. Other than the wholesale changes made for the cup competitions – which included being knocked out of the EFL Cup by West Ham – he has not had to trust his backup players at all. Few injuries have meant the same team has started match after league match, with similar substitutes made by the manager along the way. Nemanja Matic will come off for Cesc Fabregas, Willian and Pedro may switch over and Michy Batshuayi will appear to run down the clock late on. Formulaic, almost, but it has worked whether through fortune or judgement. You can’t really argue with the results.
Then we come to the reality of Chelsea’s squad. Conte has received a lot of praise for turning this team around. While finishing 10th last season was an unmitigated disaster as champions, this squad is not the tenth best in the league. It is not the best, either, but with the additions of N’Golo Kante, Marcos Alonso and David Luiz, it is hardly falling apart at the seams. Winning the league with this squad is hardly a great against-the-odds tale, he is using a squad of champions with added quality and winning the league. What’s so special about that?
Whatever anyone may think about Conte, though, his record is indisputable. Chelsea are on course to win another double and could even break the Premier League points record. The tools were there to make this Chelsea squad into an indestructible unit, but it took a special manager to make it work. In showing that last season was just a blip, Conte has shown tactical nous, open-mindedness and a catalogue of man-management to turn the performances around of Chelsea’s key players.
Conte will likely win manager of the year and go down in history as the man who saved them from the carnage left behind by Jose Mourinho.
And, perhaps most importantly, he returned the wonderful David Luiz to the Premier League.
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