Antonio Conte’s first meeting with Arsenal did not end well, but it catalyzed Chelsea’s Premier League title run. As he faces the Gunners for the FA Cup, he remarked on the days following that September defeat.
Chelsea face Arsenal tomorrow for the third time this season. The first match seemed a warning that Chelsea had not advanced much from their 10th place finish the season before. By the second meeting, Chelsea had already spent over two months atop the league. The Blues repaid Arsenal for the earlier humiliation, and Eden Hazard exposed the true colours of both clubs.
Sandwiched between multiple questions about the status of his contract negotiations and whether he would be returning to Chelsea, Antonio Conte was asked to look back to the September fixture. As the club left Arsenal in defeat, the idea of a single trophy seemed a distant prospect to many fans.
For Antonio Conte, though, such moments define a coach and give him his sense of purpose.
"At that stage of the season it was difficult to imagine, after two defeats to Liverpool and Arsenal to find the right solution quickly. I risked it, and I trusted in my job, in my idea. I think in difficult moments is when you can see the coach. When the situation is great and everything is good, your job is sometimes difficult to see. But when there is difficulty it is the right moment to see the ability of the coach. – Chelsea FC"
Conte has said several times that Chelsea needed many adjustments after the first six weeks of the season. The tactical formation was only the most visible change. But Conte also needed to train his players in that season, reinvigorate their passion and instill his winning mentality in the team.
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Chelsea achieved instant results in the 3-4-3, winning 2-0 at Hull a week later. Three weeks later Chelsea smashed Manchester United 4-0. Two weeks on from that they put on their most clinical display of Conte’s system in the 5-0 win over Everton. That brought Chelsea to five consecutive Premier League wins in the 3-4-3, with a 16-0 combined score over that span.
By that point, the fans and even some critics began to believe in Antonio Conte’s vision. However, in those hours and days after leaving the Emirates, Conte first had to convince himself and then his squad of what he was about to do. That is the challenge that Conte relishes, and that brought him to a 10th-place Chelsea.
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Without Antonio Conte’s management and leadership, his tactical genius would never be fulfilled. Without that loss at Arsenal, we may have had to wait for him to fully put his mark on the team. Perish the thought, but without that loss, Chelsea may still be awaiting the first trophy of the Antonio Conte era. Instead, the Blues are seeking his first double.