Antonio Conte has expressed doubts over whether Chelsea share his ambitions as head coach and has pointed to Manchester City, Sunday’s opponents at the Etihad Stadium, as evidence of what can be achieved when everyone sings from the same hymn sheet.
The Premier League champions will travel to their successors-elect 22 points off the leaders and, potentially, five from the top four. Chelsea have an FA Cup quarter-final to come and their Champions League knockout tie with Barcelona is finely poised after the first leg but this campaign seems a missed opportunity. It is expected to culminate in the departure of the Italian, whose fractious relationship with the board has provided an unsettling backdrop over his second season in charge.
Conte used his media briefing before the confrontation with City to hint at what might have been had the hierarchy sanctioned the lavish purchases he had hoped for over the past two transfer windows. “When you have a good manager and a lot of money to spend, probably you can have a successful season,” he said when asked about City’s improvement this season. “It’s very important to have the coach and the club with the same ambition: to improve the team, the idea of football and the quality of your players. If you find this situation, probably the season will finish with success. You can win the league, the Cup, the Cup and league, the Champions League.
“I have great ambition but I don’t have money for Chelsea. The club knows very well what is my idea, what is my ambition. That is very clear. When you decide to work with this type of coach, you must understand that you take a coach with great ambition. Not a loser but a winner. And that ambition must always be shared.”
Chelsea have paid almost £240m to secure eight players since claiming the title, recouping significant fees for Diego Costa and Nemanja Matic among a large overhaul. Conte, asked if his ambitions were shared by the club, replied: “I don’t know. I have to work on the pitch and try to do my best with the players that the club put at my disposal. A lot of these questions are not for me but for the club.
“Last season we did a fantastic job. We were a great surprise. Our competitors didn’t rate Chelsea to fight for the title, to win the title. But then you have to continue to build something important with the coach. The players and I and the club, we must be unhappy now not to be fighting for the title because the league finished after the first part of the season. Manchester City won it in that first part of the season. This must be a great frustration for me, for my players, for my club. If your name is Chelsea, you have to try to fight until the end.”
Conte believes City will continue to strengthen and develop. “They will be better, for sure, because they have the possibility to spend money and improve the quality of the starting XI and the squad,” he said. “Pep has showed himself to be a great coach. Now it will be very difficult for other teams to fight Manchester City. The situation is going to improve, not stop, for them.”
