Antonio Conte’s confidence in his team and his footballing nous is never in doubt. He now appears to be taking on his toughest challenge: wooing all of England to his side.
Antonio Conte spent his entire playing and managerial career in Italy before coming to Chelsea. As a Juventus player and manager, he knows all about fierce rivalries and being part of a club that is well and truly hated by their opponents. His success on both sides of the touchline at Juventus embittered his rivals across Serie A as it won him the hearts of The Old Lady.
The Chelsea job brought with it many new challenges. Conte had to learn the tactics, style and culture of English football. He had to adapt his methods to the Premier League while also healing a fractured team at a club that demands rapid and repeated success.
He also had to contend with the fact that many people across English football do not particularly care for Chelsea. I know, it’s hard to fathom. But some people still talk derisively about “Chelski,” and how the Blues purchased their success with “Roman’s rubles.”
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Well, Antonio Conte is tailoring a new suit at Stamford Bridge that all of England can love. Speaking about his daughter Vittoria and his wife Elisabetta, Conte said:
"This name is nice. It’s an important name, above all in England. My wife is Elisabetta, so I have two queens – Elisabetta and Vittoria. Very English because I knew one day I would arrive here in England to work. I like the name, then I like the word. – Telegraph"
Beloved queens. A sense of destiny. A commitment to victory. Antonio Conte will not be satisfied until he has the entire nation behind his Chelsea club. As he taps into English pride in pursuit of Chelsea supporters, one can only imagine the sense of history that he will impute to Chelsea’s next run deep into the Champions League.
Sam Allardyce once said that top clubs would favor him more if his name was the Italicized “Allardici,” instead of his quintessentially English moniker. He would later forfeit all claims to an understanding of the Romantic cultures, as he was caught on hidden camera drinking a pint of wine.
Antonio Conte is moving in the other direction to win hearts and minds. He has the name and the CV, and now he is becoming part of his surroundings. Like a chameleon, one might say.
Next: Antonio Conte's comments are exactly what Chelsea fans want to hear
Antonio Conte may not yet be ready to take the family out for fish and chips, but he is saying the right things in the press to go along with doing all the right things on the pitch. As other managers struggle with the full range of life in the Premier League, Conte smoothly becomes part of the English game while re-writing the record books. Not bad for his first stint out of Italy.