4 Factors That Enhanced Antonio Conte's Reputation at Chelsea

#2 Conte's Response to Adversity

Sunderland v Chelsea - Premier League

It was in February 2018 that things started to go wrong for Chelsea with their run of 4 defeats in 5 Premier League matches, making them outsiders for the top four. It can be argued that Conte failed to respond to those defeats with the home defeat to Tottenham later in the league, where Spurs had not won for 28 years, proving to be the final nail in the coffin.

However, there may be other factors as part of that demise as well. Conte was reportedly not satisfied with the results of the January transfer window and the tension between the board and the manager was also increasing with reports stating that the board was unhappy that Conte was criticizing their methods publicly. However, their were numerous instances where Conte has responded in the perfect fashion towards criticisms.

Conte was under immense pressure after his humiliating 3-0 defeat to Arsenal in his first season wherein it was reported that the manager may have been sacked after managing just five Premier League games. However, the rest is history, with Conte turning around the club's fortunes then with his tactical nous and winning the league.

It may not have been the most testing of circumstances, but welcoming a former manager who was once adored by your club's fans can be pressurizing. This was what happened when Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho came to Stamford Bridge in 2016-17 for the first time following his controversial sacking. Lose and your reputation is at stake, with the club faithful even longing for what they once had. A win was needed to make a statement of intent and an emphatic win was what Conte delivered. Mourinho was humiliated, with Chelsea running out 4-0 winner.

Three months after winning the Premier league, Conte was facing a bizarre situation of answering the media about his future with Chelsea. This is of course, partly due to the various events, that happened during those three months. First, the Italian was involved in a text row with Diego Costa telling him that he was no more a part of his plans. Costa stated the same to the public and the fact that he was now available to his suitors became common knowledge. Although Costa had been quite a rebel asking to leave the club before in few instances, the method adopted by the Italian was not appreciated by the board who felt it would have a great impact on his sale value. Conte also criticized the board for their uninspiring transfer activities in a summer where he demanded more after winning the league title.

Chelsea lost their first home game against Burnley which increased the pressure on the then Chelsea manager. With their next game against a good Tottenham side at Wembley, it felt that it would be going from bad to worse for the then champions. However, astonishingly, Chelsea won the game 2-1 silencing reports of discontent within the squad and Conte proved his tactical nous once again by adopting a 3-5-2 formation and deploying Luiz as a holding midfielder for the game.

Chelsea did not qualify for the Champions league, finishing only 5th in the Premier league in the 2017-18 campaign. Conte always insisted that it were the transfer activities of the board that affected the club's chances that season and that he is a serial winner. The FA Cup final against Mourinho's Manchester United, with whom he had some personal spats earlier in the season, was the perfect stage to prove it. Mourinho had an excellent record in finals whereas Conte had yet to win any Cup. History was against him. It felt that Conte needed it more than the club to enhance his reputation before leaving the club, a situation which was looking increasingly likely.

It was Conte who won that battle leaving Mourinho to lick his wounds again and the Italian finally won his first domestic cup by a narrow but extremely hard fought 1-0 victory.