Antonio Conte’s Chelsea career seems to have taken a huge downfall since the great success of last season, with Chelsea lifting the Premier League title in his first campaign with the Blues. Is it just the old saying that all good things come to an end (in this case very suddenly), or does it go deeper than that?
Fan overreaction?
I think the first thing we need to establish is that, has this season been a complete failure? Or is Chelsea’s slight chance of getting Champions League football next season, and the fact they’re in the FA Cup final, an overreaction, considering the rivalry this current season.
But if you do believe this season has been a complete disaster for Chelsea, is it all down to Conte or has the board been at fault for lack of recruitment, and most signings made not delivering? Or is it simply that the squad don’t want to play under Conte anymore?
Diego Costa situation
Many fans believe that it all fell apart after the Diego Costa situation, where rumours spread all across world football that Conte sent a text message to the ex-Chelsea star, saying, “you are not in my plan”, this sparked serious outrage between fans who, most of which, had a fondness towards Diego Costa, that not only was it very unprofessional, but also disrespectful for a player that has done so much for the club in past years, and this also led to Chelsea getting a lower sum of money for the Spanish international.
But is this enough for Chelsea’s season to pay dividends and players to turn their back on Conte? This is also unclear considering Chelsea’s season started off well, and only started to decline after January, now this leads onto the opinion that it’s to do with Conte’s transfer hopes not being fulfilled by the board.
Feud with Chelsea board
I think it’s fair to say that Antonio Conte and Chelsea’s board haven’t exactly seen eye to eye this season, with the Italian on many occasions going public with his views on their transfer strategies, and his disagreements towards them. And I think many would believe that Roman Abramovich is just waiting until the season comes to an end to replace Conte, and find a replacement that is dedicated to the Chelsea owner’s plans. Another reason this is also a likely situation is that the Russian billionaire has a long history of getting rid of managers who don’t fulfil his high expectations season upon season.
