Chelsea trophies keep coming... just like the managers as Antonio Conte prepares for exit

Moving on: Conte’s departure seems inevitable
AFP/Getty Images
James Olley21 May 2018

Another trophy, another probable managerial departure. This is Chelsea under Roman Abramovich: 15 years, 15 trophies and, including caretakers, a 15th managerial appointment soon in the offing.

Antonio Conte stood in the bowels of Wembley on Saturday night answering repeated questions over his future with his eyes screwed up, pinching the bridge of his nose with thumb and forefinger as if to help hold in his true thoughts.

“The mountain to climb was very high, very high,” he said. “But despite this, we finished with lifting a trophy — an important trophy like the FA Cup. There is great commitment from my players and then we will see.”

There are not many places other than Stamford Bridge where the roots of a manager’s exit can be traced back to the summer after winning a League title, but the decision to sign a new contract — improving pay but not extending his stay — appeared ominous from the start.

Conte then began a relentless public assault on those above him over a perceived lack of investment in the team, persistently pointing out a paucity of options and lack of strength in depth which eventually proved a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The Blues failed to qualify for next season’s Champions League after a disappointing Premier League campaign which unravelled with a truly appalling 3-0 defeat at Newcastle on the final day. And yet, out of the ashes of that wreckage, Chelsea steeled themselves for a display at Wembley which reflected some of the finest aspects of Conte’s era: defensive doggedness, organisation, resilience and the exquisite quality of Eden Hazard.

Chelsea’s opponents, Manchester United, helped in that regard. If Hazard’s consistency can be questioned, nothing can motivate him more than a meeting with Jose Mourinho, given the pair’s falling out during their time together at Stamford Bridge prior to Conte’s arrival.

United lacked sufficient guile to unsettle the Blues and were wasteful in front of goal, nobody more so than Paul Pogba, who missed a free header from eight yards out late on to force extra time.

Chelsea sat deep and hit on the break, with January signing Olivier Giroud proving an able foil for Hazard, just as he did at Euro 2016 for France and Antoine Griezmann.

In Pictures | Chelsea celebrate FA Cup Final win | 19/05/2018

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Mourinho got Mourinho’d, yet Conte’s departure still seems inevitable, such is the breakdown in relations between manager and board. Only the terms of his pay-off are unclear.

Continuity at Chelsea does not come from the manager. It comes from the combination of Abramovich’s money and influence, implemented and applied on a day-to-day basis by close advisers, including Marina Granovskaia, a group of players conditioned to deliver instant success amid high managerial turnover and, of course, supporters willing to accept upheaval in the clinical pursuit of silverware.

Conte deserves credit for overseeing one last cohesive performance, but Saturday’s 1-0 win said more about this group of players than anything else: Premier League champions one season, 10th place the next; champions again and now outside the top four, yet FA Cup winners.

Those swings are indicative of a team able to unite for a common cause on a short-term basis — and so it proved at Wembley. But this is not an affliction exclusive to Chelsea; the FA Cup has been the refuge of the damned for several years.

Arsenal’s failure to apply themselves consistently under Arsene Wenger repeatedly scuppered successive League campaigns, yet they won three FA Cups in his final five seasons in charge. United’s 2016 success against Crystal Palace was not enough to keep Louis van Gaal in his job; some at Wembley last weekend were speculating Chelsea would sack Conte almost immediately after the game in the same manner it was leaked that Van Gaal would be departing while he addressed the written press in what should have been a triumphant conference.

Moving out: Van Gaal lost his job at United hours after winning the FA Cup
Bongarts/Getty Images

Yet this strange juxtaposition of delivering trophies with a high managerial turnover seems more prevalent at Chelsea than anywhere else. It is, for better or worse, the Abramovich way.

The players should be used to it by now, but Thibaut Courtois took the unusual step of breaking rank to seek clarity.

“This season there were always rumours about everyone and it’s not easy to then defend a title with criticism but we are happy to win a trophy,” he said. “You get questions by journalists and eventually it turns around the group. We felt it inside Cobham, where we train. There was always kind of a negative spirit.”

Abramovich is not about to change. Chelsea have won everything during his time at the helm and while his short-termism is at the cynical end of the spectrum, it is highly effective.

He may not be able to get into the country at the moment as the renewal of his UK visa drags on, but the football landscape he seeks re-entry into is, in part, now moulded in his image.

Chelsea certainly are and, for all the tumult that often brings, the trophies keep on coming.

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