The end of Antonio Conte’s tenure at Chelsea was sour due to all the narratives being pushed. What if the Italian survived through them?
“Antonio Conte forced Diego Costa out!” one narrative says. “He gave up on the club!” another says. “He was greedy on his way out!” yet another will say.
Impressive considering Costa wanted out six months before text gate and went AWOL. Also impressive he “gave up” yet still won a FA Cup and showed up with a full preseason scheduled knowing he would be sacked at any moment. And greedy? He would be the only Chelsea manager the club fired and decided they did not want to pay him what he was owed yet.
Conte was not perfect, but virtually the entire last season he was at the club was narrative after narrative by those pushing for him out or pushing for more clicks. What if the Italian could have push through all that and stayed beyond?
Assume no amount of highlight reel watchers pushed for Maurizio Sarri to join the club and Conte was “forced” to stay. Thibaut Courtois surely would have departed regardless but those believing Eden Hazard stayed only because of Sarri will likely find themselves wrong as well. Hazard remains for a third Conte season and the signings of Kepa Arrizabalaga and Mateo Kovacic (on loan at that point) still go through.
The main issue Conte runs into in a 2018/2019 season is a misfiring Alvaro Morata and Willian forcing a move to Barcelona. David Luiz is not far behind as he forces his way out as well. The combination of the two means Andreas Christensen returns to the starting XI and Conte has to shift his formation more permanently to a 3-5-2 after a few flirtations in his second season.
But the addition of Kovacic proves a god send. With a midfield consisting of N’Golo Kante, Kovacic, and a steady rotation of Ross Barkley, Cesc Fabregas, and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Conte is able to see his 3-5-2 flourish. A resurgent Marcos Alonso helps but right wingback remains an issue area.
Regardless, the Blues are able to push on through much of the first half of the season quite strongly. When winter arrives, Conte asks for more signings, particularly in the wing back and striker areas. The board is reluctant to spend in January, but a looming transfer ban forces their hand. The Blues manage to bring in Krzysztof Piatek and finally bend to Conte for Antonio Candreva.
The signings work, but not enough to give Chelsea anything more than a comfortable third placed finish. The Europa League is still won thanks to an easy route to the final. In addition, the League Cup is also brought home as Conte outsmarts Pep Guardiola by a narrow margin.
The transfer ban could have derailed the project, but Conte seems excited by the challenge. He had slowly been integrating youth throughout his tenure and the youth revolution seems poised to happen regardless, albeit somewhat stifled from what Frank Lampard would have done in real life.
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