Antonio Conte is still Chelsea manager, for now anyway.
Conte has come under pressure following two heavy defeats in less than a week for his side. Chelsea suffered a 3-0 defeat at home to Bournemouth, and followed that with a 4-1 loss away to Watford on Monday.
Conte did a fantastic job last season, guiding the team to the Premier League title, after they had finished 10th the previous campaign. However, Roman Abramovich has sacked Chelsea managers after achieving success in the past. Jose Mourinho has been dismissed twice by the club, despite winning three league titles. Carlo Ancelotti was sacked a year after winning a league and cup double. Winning the Champions League earned Roberto Di Matteo a few months as permanent manager before being sacked.
3 – Chelsea have lost consecutive Premier League games by a margin of 3+ goals for the first time since October 1995 (1-4 vs Man Utd and 0-3 vs Blackburn). Humbled.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) February 5, 2018
However, reports claim that Conte will be given the opportunity to turn Chelsea’s form around, even if he is likely to leave at the end of the season. The club play West Brom on Monday in the Premier League, before an FA Cup game against Hull City and the first-leg of a Champions League tie with Barcelona. It could prove to be a pivotal month for Conte and the club.
Yet, regardless of what happens, according to Matt Law writing in The Telegraph, Conte won’t be sacked because of “player power.” In the past, some Chelsea players are said to have had a “direct line” to Abramovich – including Petr Cech, John Terry, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba.
The Chelsea owner canvassed their opinions, and disgruntlement within the squad led to the departures of Luiz Felipe Scolari, Andre Villas-Boas and Mourinho during his second spell with the club.
However, none of those players are still at Chelsea, and the report claims that Abramovich will consult directly with the Chelsea board, rather than the first-team squad.
Miguel Delaney, writing in The Independent, reports that there is some discontent within the Chelsea squad.
“Antonio Conte’s long tough training sessions at an arduous part of the season, and a hard-line approach to certain players, have become major issues for some of the Chelsea squad…”
According to the report, “a core of individuals” feel that Conte’s tough approach hasn’t helped them this season, and they aren’t pleased with the treatment of popular figures in the squad. Diego Costa fell out Conte at the end of last season, and left for Atletico Madrid. Michy Batshuayi was allowed join Borussia Dortmund on loan, after failing to convince his manager at Stamford Bridge. While David Luiz has rarely played in the past few months, after seemingly falling out with the former Juventus coach.
The report also claims that the club and Conte want to see out the season if possible. But, again, things may change if the next few results don’t go well.
Finally, Spanish media outlet Sport claim that Chelsea have opened negotiations with Luis Enrique. The former Barcelona coach is said to be open to the prospect of replacing Conte. But, considering various reports in England have claimed that Chelsea have not identified Conte’s successor, it’s probably worth taking this particular story with a pinch of salt. Although, Enrique will undoubtedly be in the frame when Conte does depart Stamford Bridge.
The Spanish outlet also report that Chelsea will have to pay Conte €30m (£26.7m) in compensation if they sack him before the end of the season. The former Italy coach signed an improved deal last summer, and his contract expires at the end of next season. If this is true, it would explain why Conte seems very relaxed about his future.
