#3 Conte is savvier than Wenger
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As alluded to earlier, Conte is a modern manager, in the Pep Guardiola mould, who makes managers like Wenger look like a relic of the past. It’s not that the Frenchman is no longer a good manager, it’s that he is no longer elite. The upshot of this is that Wenger needs elite players to make up for the systemic faults in his approach. In stark contrast, Conte can build a system which can make average players like Victor Moses look elite.
As he had shown with Italy in EURO 2016, Conte adapts his approach to the players he has at his disposal. He is a proactive manager who fuelled Chelsea’s rise this season by smartly switching to a back three to get the best out of David Luiz and freeing Eden Hazard of defensive responsibilities which were, ironically, exposed by Arsenal at the start of the season when they ran out 3-0 winners at the Emirates.
In contrast, it required Arsenal’s season to teeter on the brink of collapse to bring about some much-needed changes from Wenger.
While cup games are by design chaotic and not-so-tactical, given Arsenal’s beleaguered defence, it may be the best time for Conte to win his first domestic cup and complete the double.
