Chelsea’s loss to Manchester United came amidst a perfect storm. Tactics, officiating, a basketball injury and a wave of illness combined to fell the Blues.
Jose Mourinho crafted his tactics perfectly to nullify Chelsea’s 3-4-3, and motivated his players enough to follow the plan. Antonio Conte may or may not have plotted the tactics correctly. But it is hard to make any conclusions about his plans because the players were so unmotivated.
The referee gave little Chelsea’s way in the opening stages. This affected them early even if the calls became more even in the latter stages. An injury to Thibaut Courtois and a last-minute dropping of Marcos Alonso due to illness led to more changes than necessary to cover the losses.
Multiple sources now report that both Diego Costa and Victor Moses were sick with the same illness as Alonso. Alonso passed a fitness test and was initially named to the lineup, but felt ill again during warm-ups and was scratched. Costa and Moses also passed the test after missing training two days prior to the match, and stayed in the starting XI.
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Now, Antonio Conte is a genius manger. He had to be to win the Serie A title three years in a row with a team that was mid-table prior to his arrival. At Chelsea he has worked wonders with essentially the same team that finished tenth last season.
But playing sick players is a completely and utterly foolish thing to do regardless of the opponent. Back in the 1900s, playing a sick player was more common. Fitness was not a focus nearly on the scale it is now. But in the 21st century every top division club in the world closely monitors their players’ fitness.
Conte himself enacted strict fitness guidelines on his arrival at Chelsea. He of all people should know the toll sickness, even a one day virus, can take on a player’s energy levels. He partially acknowledged as much when he subbed Victor Moses off just nine minutes into the second half. He kept Diego Costa on for the full 90, but the Spaniard was a passenger for the entirety.
Costa’s illness raises questions as to why Conte trusts the backups so little. Surely a fully fit Michy Batshuayi can contribute more than a recovering Costa. Same goes for whoever would slot into right wingback in Moses’ absence.
Playing a sick player, even if they passed the fitness test, is akin to driving a car with little gas and no gas station within reach. Antonio Conte takes the blame for the loss, which is refreshing. But he will still need to review his own decisions that led to the 2-0 loss and prevent them from happening again.
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He will need to trust the substitutes over his trusted starters. Or he will need to get players he can trust as substitutes if he does not currently have any. But most of all, he simply needs to not play a player who is recovering from sickness.