Former Chelsea winger Willian believes Antonio Conte's downfall at Stamford Bridge was down to his lack of man-management skills.
Conte took Chelsea and the Premier League by storm after his 2016 arrival, winning the Premier League and the FA Cup with his almost revolutionary 3-4-3 formation.
But the Italian's second year did not go to plan, the Blues missing out on the top four, and that failure to reach the Champions League saw him sacked with a year remaining on his contract.
Around the time of Conte's departure, it seemed relationships with some of the players in the dressing room had frayed, and former Blues winger, Willian, who is now at Arsenal, has opened up on just what went wrong between the Italian and his players.
“Look, I think he’s a great coach," Willian told UOL. "A great coach, he has some ideas…. he works a lot tactically, the defensive part as well. I think that, in the field, the way of working I have nothing to say. He’s a really hard-working guy. He’s a great coach.
“The problem he had was management, how to manage the group. That’s what he lacked, which is why he ended up having a lot of problems with several players, including me too. So that was really it.
"I think he was unable to manage and understand that there were many different players, from different countries, players considered stars. Important players for the club too. So I think he lacked that understanding.
“But even so we were champions, the team really fit this way of playing. I think we took almost all opponents by surprise in this 3-4-3 formation, the wingbacks, so it took everyone by surprise.”
Willian went on to discuss Conte's successor, Maurizio Sarri, who won the Europa League with Chelsea before moving on swiftly after.
“With Sarri, I think Sarri is a coach who also works a lot tactically, works a lot with the set piece, he offensive part too," added Willian.
"It’s a different style of play than Conte’s. We, with Sarri, we controlled the game much more. With Conte we had more counterattack.
"So there were two great coaches who really enjoy working, without a doubt they work hard enough to be able to do the best for their team.”
