Antonio Conte is reversing Chelsea’s recent trend of paying eye-popping sums for established star players. In his short time at Chelsea he has promoted stars from within and created new optimism for an Academy-to-first team pipeline.
Victor Moses and Nathaniel Chalobah watched most Chelsea games from their loan homes over the last few years. That seemed to be the nearest they would ever get to the first team. The Blues purchased a succession of stars that set back the youngsters’ path to Stamford Bridge.
After a few pre-season sessions under Antonio Conte, Moses and Chalobah received welcome, almost unexpected news: they would be spending the season at Chelsea. Twelve Premier League games later, Victor Moses is the league’s – not just Chelsea’s – rising wing-back and Nathaniel Chalobah is on his way to super-sub status.
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Antonio Conte cannot believe that he is the first to recognize and cultivate Moses’ abilities at Chelsea.
"I could see his potential from the first days of the summer training camp. Moses has important qualities: technique, physical strength, the ability to cover seventy meters of the pitch. I find it incredible that someone like him has been underestimated. – Football-Italia"
This quip quickly did the rounds as Conte throwing shade at Jose Mourinho. But Moses and Mourinho are merely instances of the broader trend that Antonio Conte is bucking.
Chelsea and other clubs at their level default to the transfer market to find their next player. They have the resources to do so. And they often do not give their manager enough time to craft a long-term, in-house solution. The demands for instant gratification combine with wealth to produce a player policy awash in waste and moment-thinking.
Chelsea’s purchase-happy player policy is particularly risible given Chelsea’s loan army and academy pipeline. If Chelsea simply takes the time to assess what they have and recognize solutions extending beyond the front of their hand, they will see that they have much of what they need.
"[B]uying players to bridge gaps like that is wasteful… I don’t understand the need to spend money on players who we don’t think are of the quality to play. Let youth players get the extra minutes in between. That’s how you develop players in the end. – Barrett Rouen, The Blue Lions"
Antonio Conte went to war with the army he has. This mentality brought Victor Moses to the starting XI and Nathaniel Chalobah to the bench. It also transformed Cesar Azpilicueta into a centre-back as part of the overall strategy and formation shift.
Conte’s less conspicuous choices show the principle behind the pragmatism. Ola Aina and Dominic Solanke are regularly part of the first-team squad. Conte frequently attends Academy matches, not just when his first-team players are in the development squad.
Conte and Chelsea as a whole have also been tight-lipped about the prospect of high-value transfer activity in January. Even the unnamed sources and rumour mill have been relatively mum. Previous iterations of Chelsea would have Michael Emenalo writing zeroes on a check for players like Paulo Dybala and Kalidou Koulibaly.
Instead, the talk focuses on Kurt Zouma’s return from injury, Andreas Christensen’s return from loan and whether Bertrand Traore or Tammy Abraham will be Diego Costa’s next partner.
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This is a significant shift for Chelsea, and hopefully for the Premier League as a whole. Antonio Conte is inspiring 3-4-3 copycats. Perhaps other clubs will realize that the player approach and not the formation is at the root of Chelsea’s success. If that becomes the Chelsea Way, and others get on board, Antonio Conte will be a legend for the English game well beyond SW6.