Recently, Eden Hazard and Thibaut Courtois have both stated that Chelsea need to improve the squad. Antonio Conte has said this for almost a year.
In the past week, both Eden Hazard and Thibaut Courtois have made comments about Chelsea needing to strengthen. Connected to that is both players’ futures. If Chelsea strengthen, they will stay. If Chelsea do what they have done the past few windows, they will go elsewhere.
These comments were met with praise by fans and media alike. They were truths laid down for the board. And they were set up next to stories of Antonio Conte having to leave to keep the Belgians. But the manager and players want the same thing.
Antonio Conte has been saying that the squad is not good enough for most of the season. He has said they need to strengthen. And his comments were met with scorn and ridicule. It was said that Conte was “whining” which is why it is even more interesting that Hazard and Courtois saying the same was praised.
The next string on that ball of yarn is playing style. Hazard and Courtois both want to play more attacking. Well, surprise surprise, so does Conte. Last season proved it. Chelsea were swashbuckling not even a year ago, but when the squad became weaker, Conte was forced to adapt to cope. The defensiveness of this season’s football is less about Conte being a “coward” and more about the squad simply being worse than last season.
Related Story: No World Cup, no problem: Four players Chelsea should buy very soon
With the right players, Chelsea can return to that swashbuckling style once more. This is not a Conte versus Hazard and Courtois situation, but all three of them versus the board. Either the board matches their ambition or it loses all three by the end of next season.
Hazard and Courtois can exist with Conte. But they want to see that the board actually cares about finishing fifth. Actually cares that, for the second time in three years, they failed to build upon a Premier League title. It is not whining, it is truth. If the board wants Chelsea to succeed, they need to back the club every summer. Conte has known this for over a year now. The players likely have too but now they are vocalizing it.
The other side of that coin is players who are opposed to Conte, and likely strengthening the squad, no matter what. It is a stretch, but Willian and David Luiz have both taken to social media to passive aggressively oppose Conte.
Luiz did so on Facebook by cropping Connte out of the team photo. Willian did so on Instagram (captured here via Twitter) by covering Conte with emoji’s. Their incredibly childish and unprofessional actions come from a place of fear. They know if the squad strengthens, they are on the outs in almost every situation. They are opposed to Conte now because they know his continued management means the end of their Chelsea careers.
Next: Chelsea player ratings: Tiemoue Bakayoko, Antonio Rudiger vie for MOTM
But to make it out as Hazard and Courtois opposing Conte? That is simply not correct. They want the same things. They want the squad to be better and if they are not matched in that regard, Chelsea will lose all three and be stuck with those that would rather complain in childish ways and see the club tread water if not sink.