Antonio Conte has shined throughout the holiday season on and off the pitch. His Premier League peers should try to emulate his character as well as his footballing success.
Winning games and trophies is the baseline level of success for a Chelsea manager. Antonio Conte may have broken the club record for consecutive wins and put the club firmly atop the Premier League at the new year, but that is simply the job Roman Abramovich pays him to do.
Over the last few weeks, Chelsea fans have learned much more about who Antonio Conte is beyond the touchline. First there was the news that Conte attended the staff holiday party, rather than simply sending in a video. Then we learned that he gave every Cobham employee a bottle of wine or prosecco, with a handwritten note. He also attended the Chelsea childrens’ holiday party, even though his own family was still in Italy.
On the pitch, he shared an emotional hug with Michy Batshuayi after his brief appearance in the Bournemouth game that everyone expected him to start. Conte’s smiling embrace with Diego Costa following the victory over Stoke launched a thousand gif’s and catapulted the two into bromance legend.
Costa best personifies Conte’s impact on the team and the club. He told the club’s website:
"The truth is the manager is good with the players, every time making more jokes with the players. That’s good for us, to have a manager who is not just a boss, but like a person we can talk with, someone whose support we can count on in difficult moments. He is calm with the players and you can see the people love him more all the time."
Anyone can be in high spirits when they are enjoying unprecedented success like Chelsea’s. Adversity reveals character, they say. Unfortunately, the Premier League managers who are experiencing football adversity are not revealing anything positive.
After defeating Manchester City, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp speculated that Liverpool was getting into Chelsea’s head. “Not bad, but can you imagine how annoying it is when you’ve won 13 games in a row and there’s still one team only six points behind?”
A Klopp-ish remark, to be sure. On either side of that statement he said that Chelsea-watching is unproductive. So who is the thorn in whose side?
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Pep Guardiola overshadowed his own side’s victory on Monday with one of the more bizarre exchanges in recent memory. Combine Jose Mourinho’s deflections, Arsene Wenger’s pique and Sam Allardyce’s bluster but remove all of their charm. That was Guardiola’s interview with SkySports’ Rob Palmer.
Guardiola explicitly said that the rules of football are applied differently in England than the rest of the world. He aggressively interrupted the interviewer to say that Burnley’s goal was the result of a foul on Claudio Bravo.
He twice challenged Palmer, first saying “You are the journalist” in response to a question about Fernandinho’s red card. Later, Palmer asked if Guardiola was even happy with the win. Guardiola’s eyes grew wide as he shot right back “What do you believe?”
Back in London, Chelsea’s next opposing manager believes he has the support of the other 18 Premier League teams in Wednesday’s London derby. Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino said it is important to the entire league that Spurs stop Chelsea’s win streak. For an extra bit of class, he added that he hopes Tottenham are this season’s Leicester City and have everyone’s support.
And of course, Arsene Wenger continues to point out the injustices of the holiday schedule.
Amazingly, Jose Mourinho has stayed somewhat above this fray. His Manchester United team are on a six-game win streak, sparing him the risk of adversity revealing any more of his character.
Too many good men have lost their jobs at Premier League teams because the results were not there. Character counts, but rarely does it save anyone from the sack. Antonio Conte’s character is inseparable from what he is achieving on the pitch. Diego Costa proves that, as do all the other smiling Blues.
Next: Chelsea's predicted starting XI for Tottenham: Willian or Pedro?
Antonio Conte will, at some point with Chelsea, face adversity. So far, he has shown a character that should withstand any trials that come his way.