Antonio Conte is out of a job and Chelsea are looking for a new permanent manager. It's only fair we take a look at the man that last led Chelsea to the Premier League title.
Here are some reasons why we believe Conte's return to the club could be beneficial for this Chelsea team:
His favourite set-up might suit Chelsea
Chelsea's terrible season has had some shimmers of brilliance but the players only seem to turn up when the team is playing with a back three.
For all those who aren't familiar with Conte's style, he's pretty much the master of the 3-5-2. He's used it successfully at Juventus, his first stint at Chelsea and then at Inter Milan.
The 3-5-2 formation has become one of Antonio Conte's preferred tactical systems due to its flexibility as it easily turns into 5-3-2 when defending. The bombing fullbacks are keys players to this set-up and Chelsea already have those in Reece James, Marc Cucurella and Malo Gusto.
Finally, Thomas Tuchel had tremendous success at Chelsea switching between 3-5-2 and 5-3-2.
Boehly will get him who he needs
Even though he explicitly denies being one, Conte has been called a 'cheque-book manager' at times. At Inter Milan and Spurs, he changed half the squad in the very first transfer window and kept asking for more, unafraid to call the board out when they failed to deliver.
For sure, there’s a fair number of flops among his buys (although you could argue if the likes of Morata and Bakayoko were his buys) but he’s also demanded some absolute gems: Lukaku and Barella at Inter, Kante and Rudiger at Chelsea.
The point here is that Conte is clear in terms of demanding the 'right' players at each club he manages and Todd Boehly is a man that won't shy away from signing the big cheques.
He will get the best out of Lukaku
Antonio Conte and Romelu Lukaku's relationship is one of mutual admiration and respect.
It was at Inter Milan where Conte and Lukaku truly flourished as a coach-player duo. Conte signed Lukaku from Manchester United in the summer of 2019, and the striker immediately hit the ground running, scoring 34 goals in his debut season as Inter won the Serie A title for the first time in over a decade.
Conte's faith in Lukaku was evident throughout the season, as he often spoke of his importance to the team and praised his work ethic and attitude. Lukaku, in turn, credited Conte with helping him improve his game and develop into one of the world's top strikers.
Conte will bring a change in mentality
This current Chelsea squad is a big one and there is a false sense of security among the players who are hiding behind managers due to the lack of a strong mentality.
The many months of being defended by Graham Potter and his press conferences where he'd protect his players will need a little bit of shaking up and who better to do it than Conte.
The last time Conte was at Chelsea and sensed that there were some players with a bad attitude at the club, he said this:
Now we're not advocating for Conte to go on and shed blood in the Cobham dressing room but it is clear that he will bring back the intensity that has been lacking in the players for some time now.
